


RollZero's Megaman X Series

by RollZero



Category: Mega Man (Cartoon 1994), Rockman X | Mega Man X, Rockman | Mega Man - All Media Types
Genre: Action, Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Future, Drama, Family Drama, Irregular Hunter X | Mega Man Maverick Hunter X, Multi, Robot Feels, Robots, Rockman X2 | Mega Man X2
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-26
Updated: 2018-03-10
Packaged: 2019-03-24 04:33:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 20
Words: 34,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13803486
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RollZero/pseuds/RollZero
Summary: This is my own version of the Megaman X series, going through each game that I have played, in my own way. This version of the X Series I first came up with after playing X1 on my SNES, back when the game first came out, thus you can say was the beginning of my fanfiction writing. Now I have decided to finally write out this series I have planed for over 10 years, this is an Alternate Universe Version of the X Series, so things will be changed, and I will be taking the story from a different point of view. The idea was that what if X was found during the Maverick War, that Sigma had already gone Maverick, and X ended up in the middle of this battle? The base of the Megaman Series you could call the future of would be the Megaman Cartoon Series, as it was on during the time I came up with this.





	1. Episode 1: The Maverick Hunter Zero

**Author's Note:**

> This is actually based off a comic book I did first, I'd show them but photobucket shut down a while back so I lost my host for the comic book, some of the images you can find on my DevianArt, but that's about it for now.
> 
> I'm going to go ahead and tie my prolouge and first chapter together, since it was rather short and this was an earlier fanfic I wrote back in 2008, so there are probably errors all over and I apologize for that. But there were people asking to see my older fanfics from my original fanfiction.net account that I lost back in 2012, so I'm working on reposting them all up.
> 
> Oh and while it is a spoiler for the fanfic, I'm just going to straight out explain that Zero is a female in this series, and in fact actually is a rebuilt Roll from the original Megaman Series, thus where my username comes from. ^^ (For those that will argue in the comments, that was meant to be addressed and explained later where Dr. Wily's coding came from as she was built from parts of more than one robot.)

Prologue: The Discovery of X  
  
  
The year is 21XX. Humans live in peace alongside mass-produced, highly-intelligent robots called “Reploids.” However, no technology available has been able to completely eliminate the potential danger that comes with robots running on artificial intelligence. As a result, malfunctions have started occurring, leading Reploids to start attacking humans.  
There have been many such cases...  
These Reploids, having exceeded the bounds of their AI protocols, are called “Mavericks.” And in order to round them up and protect humans from the Maverick threat, the Maverick Hunters team was formed. Among the Maverick Hunters, one Reploid in particular stood out from the crowd as the most advanced Hunter of them all. His name is Sigma. “Reploids of the world! Take up arms and unite! Now is the time for revolution!"  
Out of the blue, this was Sigma's call to arms, igniting a large-scale rebellion across the globe. But a small team of Maverick Hunters from the same team as Sigma have set out to put down the rebellion and put a stop to Sigma.  
This team, soon to receive it's greatest addition......  
  
In a tunnel below the surface of the Earth, are the remains of the laboratory of Dr. Thomas Light, creator of Megaman. It has been a long time since anyone set foot in the lab, as an earthquake had caused the remains of it to be buried below ground. Computer screens were broken and glass filled the floor along with rock and other pieces of metal. Machines covered the walls that were completely destroyed.  
A man in a blue outfit with red trim stood in the center of the lab, he set his brown cane down and ran his fingers through his long, white beard. He had no hair on his head.  
"Dr. Cain, are you sure of this?" asked a yellow Reploid, he was a little chubby and tripped into a corner of the lab, landing by the old man's feet.  
Dr. Cain laughed a little, poking the Reploid with his cain. "Double, watch your step, there's tons of junk all over here..."  
The Reploid held his head with his white hands, rubbing it. "But you've been down here how many times? What do you hope to find this time?"  
"I haven't been down here in over a year, Double." Dr. Cain said. "Ever since that last earthquake more of the lab was destroyed, and it wasn't even safe to dig this far with the Maverick outbreaks."  
"So what makes it safe now?" Double narrowed his eyes.  
The old man sighed. "It doesn't, but we need to find what I've been searching here for 5 years."  
The Reploid shrugged his arms, looking over a broken table with papers on it. "Why didn't you take Alia down here with you?"  
"Because you broke the radio last time I let you handle it...." Dr. Cain snapped. "We need her on stand by incase there's another cave-in like the one before, that way she can dig up out with the Digger Drill I invented."  
"I still say we're not going to find anythiinnnnngggg....." the ground under Double collapsed, and the Reploid fell a few feet down, he crashed hard at the bottom of the pit.  
"Double!" Dr. Cain cried. "Are you okay?"  
"Yeah...." Double called back up, he looked ahead of him, seeing a flashing red light. "YIKES!!! MAVERICK!!!!"  
"Maverick?" Dr. Cain asked, confused, he pulled out his backpack he had taken with and lowered himself down with a rope he had inside.  
"Doc!!! Let's run!!!" the yellow Reploid screamed, hiding behind Dr. Cain.  
Dr. Cain looked more closely at the red flashing light, he whipped out a flashlight, shinning it in that direction.  
There was no Maverick, just a machine with a screen, with flashing red lights. Dr. Cain looked at Double.  
"Well it could have been a Maverick...." Double groaned.  
"You chicken." the long white bearded man stepped closer to the machine, seeing a capsule next to it. "What is this?" he dusted off the capsule.  
An 'X' was on the capsule, he turned to a screen that came on.  
  
  
  
An older man than Dr. Cain appeared on the screen. He looked very ill. "My name is Thomas Light. I am the researcher who designed and built Mega Man X." he coughed.  
"Who's that guy?" Double asked.  
Dr. Cain glared at Double. "Be quiet." he snapped.  
Dr. Light huffed, as he tried to speak. "I granted X special powers that no other robot possesses. Utilizing his conscience, he is able to think, worry and act entirely of his own accord. This means he is also imbued with the same materials necessary to fac-ilitate the evolution of robots in the same manner as life." the old doctor coughed even more loudly. "It is an unfortunate fact that human life is short and fleeting, and I fear that I will not have the time to ensure the safety of the X project. That is why I have decided to seal him away. Perhaps he will be discovered in the far-flung future, and will fight valiantly to achieve peace for all people. Yes... I firmly believe that this will come to pass. But, I am not without worry. I fear that X will be swept up in the war we call 'progress.' I urge the people of the future to remember that X is my... the world's hope."  
The screen fuzzed, as it blew a fuse and the screen blew.  
"Man, that sure was defective..." Double remarked.  
"I finally found him...." Dr. Cain muttered, looking at the capsule. "Finally, our hope may just be restore....."

 

* * *

 

Above ground, in what once was known as Rock City, a war-zone remained. Broken buildings, bridges, and massive destruction everywhere you turned. The Mavericks covered this area, destroying anything that opposed them.  
A young female Reploid was trying to flee a group of Mavericks. She had dark blue hair and a red body, she was with a little yellow Reploid and a red Reploid with a black visor.  
"Leave the lady alone." the Reploid with the visor demanded, he stood tall against the Mavericks.  
One of the Mavericks laughed. He had a large flame over his head, which looked basically like a square. His arms were green, each with a red buster. His body was round, like a pot, with tiny little legs holding him up. The Maverick was known as Zippo.  
"It's gonna be a hot time in the old town tonight..." the flaming Maverick teased.  
"Hey leave some for me!" shouted a Reploid behind Zippo. This one had two large needles for arms, two tiny needles on his head, sparks of electricity surging through the needles. In his chest was an outlet, he was yellow in various shades.  
"Sparky, get back." Zippo hissed. "These are mine!"  
The electric filled Reploid grinned, as a lighting bolt passed through his needles. "But I'm all charged up for action!" he protested.  
"Then wait in line...." the third and final Maverick of the group stepped between them. This one had a purple head with wires on the sides of his head, round circles made his arms and legs, and his body was built like a tube.  
"Burst, stay outta this." Sparky snapped.  
"Oh really?" Burst held out his buster, shooting a series of bubbles at the three helpless Reploids.  
But these weren't normal bubbles, each one exploded like a powerful bomb.  
"HELP!" the female Reploid cried out.  
"No one's gonna save you honey." the evil bubble Reploid chuckled.  
The other Reploids stood in front of the girl, though they knew they didn't stand a chance.  
"So who do we kill first?" Zippo asked, looking the Reploids over.  
"I want cutie." said Sparky, another electric spark passing from one needle to the next.  
"No way, she's mine." the fiery Reploid protested, the flame on his head getting larger.  
"While you two bozos fight I'll take them all on...." Burst groaned, rolling his eyes.  
"HEY! When will you Mavericks pick on someone your own size?!?" a voice hollered out.  
"Who said that?" Zippo asked, spinning around.  
The voice belonged to a tall, red Reploid with long blonde hair. "Though I can tell you guys never downloaded manners...."  
"Who the hell is this?" Burst hissed.  
"Zero!" one of the Reploids in peril cried.  
"Who?" Sparky asked, holding his needle arms up in the air.  
"Wait, isn't that the name of some Maverick Hunter?" Zippo asked, his eyes widening.  
"Oh some Hunter?" the red Reploid with blonde hair held out its hand, as it retracked into its arm, changing shape to a buster, and fired a shot at the three attacking Mavericks.  
BOOM! The blast was large, the three Mavericks spilt up around the area.  
"Wait, isn't that the leader of the Maverick Hunters?!?" Burst cried. "That's right, it's Zero, they say he's one of the best!"  
"HE?!?" Zero's eye twitched a little, firing another buster shot at the bubble Maverick.  
KA-BOOM! Burst's wires on his left side of his head were gone, blown off by the shot.  
"Wait, he's a she?" Zippo asked, figuring out why Zero was so ticked off by the remark.  
"Oh, give the Maverick a prize as he just grew a brain...." Zero teased, leaping down from a rock she stood on.  
Now everyone could see Zero more clear. She wore a helmet with a blue jewel in the center, two green orbs were on her chest, a white circle ring around her neck, and she had large red boots with white on the tips. On her back was a white panel, with a yellow stick hanging out of it. Her arms and legs were black, her waist was white with a yellow grid in the middle. Her blue eyes turned to the rescued Reploids.  
"Get out of here." she demanded, as they nodded and ran off.  
"Hey who says we're done with you?!?" Sparky hissed, turning to the blonde haired Reploid. "Lady, you're dead!"  
"Oh we'll see about that." she chuckled, winking at the Mavericks.  
Sparky was the first to attack, the electric sparks that had been surging through his needles in his arms charged together into a massive blast of electricity, he aim it at Zero.  
The Maverick Hunter anticipated this, leaping into air and dodging the attack, firing her buster at the Electric Maverick.  
Zippo countered with a flame he fired from his buster, as it made contact with Zero's attack, it exploded. But then she was in the Fire Maverick's face, kicking him to the side.  
"Morons...." Burst grumbled, he charged up a large bubble in his hands, it was twice the size of himself, he came up behind Zero and slammed in into her body.  
Poof! The Hunter found herself trapped inside the bubble, she fired a few buster shots, which only bounced off.  
"So much for Miss Hunter...." the Water Maverick grinned. "Are you gonna beg for us to let you out?"  
"Now why should I do that?" Zero said, she cocked an eyebrow, while reaching for her back with her right hand. "When you're going to be begging me to finish you off?" she pulled out the yellow stick that was on the white plate on her back, it was a sword handle. She held it firmly, as a beam of light shot out from it, a blade forming from the light, it shinned in many colors. "Say hello to my Z-saber!" she joked, slashing a hole in the bubble cage. SLASH!! POP! She was freed.  
The Mavericks looked at each other for a moment, before combining their attacks together to team up against Zero, who sighed.  
"These guys never learn...." she groaned, dashing in, making a cross slash at Burst, slicing the Aqua Maverick in half.  
"UGH." Burst groaned, his body sparking from damage.  
"Now I think I'll just borrow this..." Zero said, grabbing the destroyed Maverick's arm. Series of code ran through her eyes, as the gem on her helmet shinned brightly. "Thanks for the power!"  
"What did she just do?" Zippo asked, looking at his electric partner.  
"Don't know." Sparky shrugged.  
"Oh just.... THIS!" Zero fired her buster at Zippo. But this time, she fired a bubble trap, just like the one Burst had used on her.  
Poof! Zippo was caught in the trap, the flame on his head extinguished.  
"Nice trick." the electric Maverick grinned, looking at his trapped comrade. "Let's see you handle this!" he hurled a small ball of electricity at the Maverick Hunter.  
Zero waited for the electric ball to come close, and whacked it with her saber, sending it into the trapped Zippo, causing an explosion.  
Sparky's eyes widened. "Oooppsss....."  
Zero grabbed the remains of the broken Maverick's buster, downloading his weapon data. Her saber now glowed brightly, the blade turning into flames.  
Sparky gulped. He wasn't sure if it was such a great idea taking on a Maverick Hunter after all. Especially this one. But he knew he had to stand his ground, now sticking his needles into the ground, electric shockwaves running across the ground, towards his enemy.  
BZZZTTT. The shockwaves hit their target, Zero swayed a little, trying to ignore the pain, as she leapt into the air, holding her sword in both hands, and slashing the Maverick right in the center, the sword's flames covered Sparky.  
"HOT!!! HOT!!!!!!!!!" the Maverick cried as his body exploded into flames, soon after blowing up into pieces.  
Zero took a breath as her saber's blade retracked, she placed the handle back in its place, she checked around to make sure there were no more Mavericks in the area.  
"Iris, this is Zero, point 15A is clear." she said, as there was a communicator in her helmet, which transmitted back to the Maverick Hunter Base.  
The Maverick Hunter Operator, Iris, answered. "Roger Zero, are you okay?"  
The blonde Reploid nodded. "Yeah, there were a few injured Reploids here, send a rescue unit to assist them. I'll head back to base."  
"Hold on Zero." the Operator said. "Dr. Cain called, he wants you to come to his lab right away."  
Zero rolled her eyes. As she knew most visits to Dr. Cain's Lab very rarely went well, usually it meant the crack-pot had a new toy he wanted to try.... On her. "Why?" she groaned as she asked.  
"He said that he found 'it' Zero...." Iris answered, a little confused. "He didn't say what 'it' is, but he said you'd know...."  
Zero's blue eyes widened in shock, she knew what it meant. "..... He.... Found..... It?" she said quietly.  
"Zero, are you okay?" Iris asked.  
"I'll talk to you about it later Iris, I'll be at Dr. Cain's if you need me." Zero said, breaking contact, as she dashed off. "It can't be.... He found it?!?!" she ran through her mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now eventually we'll reach a roadblock I hit in this fanfic even though I had it planned all the way to X8, but just never got around to writing the rest. Maybe once day I'll pick it back up ^^;


	2. Episode 2: X's Awakening

Zero rushed as fast as she could to Dr. Cain's Laboratory, which was a very large building. She hurried inside and up the staircase, to the room where she found the old man. The room was filled with computer equipment, screens on the walls and other flashing lights on boards, and other devices.  
"Doc, is it true?!?" she cried in-between huffs.  
The blue coated doctor turned towards Zero, a smile grew across his face. "You see for yourself." he pointed to the capsule.  
The red Reploid's knees buckled, as she stroked the top of the capsule, on the letter 'X' written on it. "After all these years...."  
"Dr. Cain, we're all ready to go." said a female blonde haired Reploid behind a computer. She had bright blue eyes, her body was pink on top, and red in the middle, her long legs were black, with pink boots. Her white hands spread across the keyboard.  
"Start it up, Alia." Dr. Cain ordered.  
Double smiled at Zero. "You've waited a long time for this, haven't you?"  
The Maverick Hunter nodded quietly, smiling.  
Alia typed quickly on her keyboard. The computer screen flashed as electric power surged through the wires connected to the capsule, filling it with energy.  
"Opening the capsule...." the pink Reploid said.  
A dust cloud puffed out as the capsule opened slowly, as it was rusted in spots, and had a hard time opening up. The lid to the capsule was off, revealing a glass plate, but now you could see the blue Reploid inside.  
"It is him....." Zero said with hope in her voice. "Megaman X......"  
"Okay, time to wake him up." the doctor ordered, pressing a button on the capsule.  
BBZZZTTT.... The blue Reploid's body was engulfed with electricity, a red jewel on his helmet glowed brightly. The glass plate lifted opened, as X slowly opened his bright, green-blue eyes.  
"It worked...." Double said in amazement.  
The blue Reploid seemed disoriented at first, sitting up in the capsule, looking around. "W-Where am I?" he asked, a crackle in his vocal unit.  
Zero couldn't hold herself much longer, she leapt out and hugged the blue Reploid tightly. "Oh Mega! It's been so long!!!!"  
X was shocked by this, as this red Reploid was unknown to him. "W-What? Who are you?" he asked, his voice coming together.  
The red Reploid smiled, pulling herself back, knowing she had forgotten herself that moment. "Oh yeah, you wouldn't know me like this, would you Rock?"  
The blue Reploid's eyes widened. "How.... How could you know that?!?"  
Zero winked. "Don't you know your sister when you see her? .... Mega, it's me, Roll...." she said, placing a hand on herself.  
X was completely confused now. "Roll? .... But... But.... You're...." he stuttered.  
"Dead? Yeah, I thought so too." the red Reploid said, she placed a hand on X's shoulder. "And I thought the same about you...."  
Dr. Cain stepped between them. "Hello Megaman X, I am Dr. Cain, the one who discovered you, and the one that reconstructed your sister."  
X glanced at the doctor for a moment, still trying to process the fact that his sister was alive, and that it sounded like she had been awakened long before he was.  
"You see I found her pieces in Dr. Light's Lab, along with combining her CPU Chip into a robotic body I had been building together, I made her." the old man explained. "It surprised me when I discovered her Memory Data hadn't been erased."  
  
"We couldn't find you at first, bro." Zero took over. "We've spent years looking for your capsule, it got buried deep underground due to massive earthquakes and other disasters.  
"Well that explains a lot...." X said, holding his head. "How long have I been in there?"  
"About 100 years...." his sister answered. "The year is 21XX."  
"Dang, I had one hell of nap...." the blue Reploid joked.  
"So this is Zero's brother?" Alia asked, she was behind X, looking him over.  
X jumped as to him Alia just appeared out of nowhere. "Who are you? .... And who is Zero?"  
The doctor laughed. "This is Alia, my assistant. And Zero is your sister's current name."  
X turned to his sister. "Zero?" he said, with an arched eyebrow.  
"Well Roll doesn't quite fit a Maverick Hunter." she shrugged. "Like you haven't had your name changed, Rock?"  
"True..." the blue Reploid nodded, confused again. "Maverick Hunter?"  
"He doesn't know about Mavericks?" Double asked Dr. Cain.  
The doctor shook his head. "Reploids weren't as common back when he was sealed." he explained, then turned to X. "This is Double, another of my assistants."  
"Reploids?" X was getting more and more confused by the moment.  
"That's what they call robots now, bro." Zero explained. "Reploids are robots that can think on their own like you & me, it's just now there's a whole civilization of robots now, that work with humans, just like Dr. Light always wanted."  
"Really?" the blue Reploid asked, a little shocked by this.  
"Dr. Cain here made it so." Zero said, pointing to the doctor. "He created the Reploid Race, that now help humans, he did so by studding me and Dr. Light's research."  
"Wow...." X said in amazement.  
"But there are some flaws...." the old doctor sighed. "Mavericks are Reploids that have malfunctions in the electronic brain, or other such things, that cause them to harm humans, and attack other Reploids. I believe you had some like that in your time."  
"Yeah, Dr. Wily's bots...." X groaned, he turned to Zero. "So Roll, they're called Mavericks? And we're Maverick Hunters?"  
"Yeah but unlike them, these guys work for themselves, more than half of them turn like this as a result of a virus." the red Reploid explained, with a slight groan. "And it's Zero....."  
"There's a war going on now between humans and Reploids." Alia said.  
"Started by my very own Reploid...." Dr. Cain said, sighing. "The first attempt I made at making a robot just like you & Zero, X, from Dr. Light's research... But I failed.... He has become Maverick and has declared war against the human race...."  
"Dr. Cain's Reploid, Sigma, was at first the one who organized the Maverick Hunters, a police force to stop and maintain Mavericks." Zero explained. "I was modified for combat and followed him as a part of his unit, but when he went Maverick, he took most of the Hunters with him, and destroyed those who wouldn't follow. I was all that remained, and became the leader."  
"Your sister took a stand that helped save us this long, X." the doctor said. "If it hadn't been for Zero, Sigma would have taken over by now, but we need your help, to stop him once and for all." he sighed. "Your skills are legendary, and your creator even said that you might be mankind's last hope."  
X didn't know what to say. This was happening so fast he could barely process it all.  
"Dr. Cain!" Alia said, holding her right hand on the side of her face, where a headset was. "Iris is sending an urgent signal. The Maverick Hunter Base is under attack!"  
"X, the rest of the history lesson will have to wait until later." Zero said, dashing off.  
"Hold on sis, I'm coming with you!" her brother followed close behind.  
"Wait X, you haven't fully powered yet!" Dr. Cain cried. "The capsule notes said you need a few hours until you're fully charged......" but X had left already. "...... Now I'm sure he's Zero's brother..... The same impatience....."  
  
X & Zero were just near the outside of the Maverick Hunter Headquarters, it had taken an hour to get there, they had hidden behind a large boulder.  
A storm of Mavericks covered the area, all were small in size but heavily armed. The leader of the Maverick Hunters scanned through them.  
"..... Any try of an attack could turn into an ambush..." she muttered.  
"Why are we sitting here?" X asked, looking over the boulder. "I can shoot them from here."  
"Yeah, and then more could show up." his sister snapped.  
"Roll, you've changed." the blue Reploid laughed. "What happened to the kick butt Roll that rushed in and followed me no matter how many times I yelled at you to stay behind?"  
"I grew up...." Zero remarked in a grumble. "And Mavericks are as dumb as Wily's Robots, at least most of them aren't. They're a lot stronger too." she then rolled her eyes again. "And my name is Zero!"  
"And I can take them out from here, watch." X said, holding out his arm as his hand transformed into a buster, he aimed it at the group of Mavericks. Tiny pours of light gathered together into the buster, forming a powerful Charge Shot, which he fired.  
"NO X!!!!" Zero screamed, but it was too late.  
KA-BOOM! A series of Mavericks were destroyed.  
"See? That wasn't so bad." the blue Reploid smiled. "What were you worr......" he looked below him as a large shadow covered where he stood, he looked up to see a very large, flying beetle-like Maverick.  
"And you complained about me and MY big mouth?" Zero groaned.  
BOOM! The beetle Maverick dropped a bomb that exploded. X crashed into another boulder where as Zero landed on her feet on the top of one.  
She drew her Z-Saber, her blonde hair blowing in the wind from the explosion. "Big mistake pal." she remarked, leaping forward, the blade on her saber appearing as she slashed the beetle Maverick in half, causing it to crash and explode.  
The Maverick Hunter landed next to X, placing her saber back in its proper place.  
"What in the world is that?!?" the blue Reploid asked in amazement.  
"My Z-Saber." the sword wielding Reploid answered. "It's made with the same plasma power in your buster. Of course I have my own buster as well." she held up her arm, her hand forming a buster, showing it to her brother.  
X just seemed at a loss for words. Everything around him had changed in what seemed to him only a few moments, and here it ends up being a century later.... Was this really what Dr. Light meant for him? To be gone from the world that long? These questions troubled him terribly.  
"Hey X, remember all those times I wanted to come with you for battle, but you always told me to stay behind?" Zero asked. "You were just looking out for me right?"  
X was confused by her question. "Um, yeah?"  
"GOOD!" she smiled. "Then you'll understand my new plan, YOU STAY HERE!" the red Reploid said loudly, before dashing off.  
The blue Reploid stood for a few moments, blinking several times before he processed what had just happened. ".... What does she think I am? Chopped liver!?!?" he growled, stomping off in the other direction. "I'll show her...."  
VROOM!!! A large beetle Maverick flew overhead. This was was smaller than the one Zero had defeated, but it flew just over X's head.  
He looked up at the Maverick. "I can handle this...." he sad confidently.  
The beetle Maverick's eyes glowed a bright green, as it dropped a small round object down, X caught it with his hands, starring at it.  
"What's this?" he asked.  
KA-BOOM! The object turned out to be a bomb, exploding in his face.  
"OH THAT DOES IT!!!" he growled, charging up his X-Buster in his hand, he held the buster with his right hand, to steady the shot.  
BLAST!!! The Charge Shot from the buster blew a hole in the beetle Maverick, causing it to crash.  
X blew on the top of his buster, which was smoking a little.  
VHOOM! A large drop-ship flew above him now, it was heading towards where Zero was going.  
"What's that?" the buster-wielding Reploid asked himself. He dashed off towards the drop-ship.  
But he was spotted. The drop-ship came to a halt. VOOM! A door opened, and a large Robot Ride Armor jumped out of the door. It was a large blue robot suit, with huge grey metal arms. The driver was a purple Reploid with a black 'T' in the center of his helmet. He had a large grey cannon on his shoulder.  
"Out of my way, puny bot...." the Reploid spoke in a deep voice.  
"No way!" X said, pointing his buster at the intruder.  
"Heh, you must be a rookie...." the purple Reploid laughed. "You have to be really new to mess with me! I was one of the top Hunters in my day...."  
Confused, X lowered his buster a little. "You were a Maverick Hunter?"  
"Okay so now they don't even read you the boring text book anymore?" the purple Reploid replied, a red 'eye' glowing in the black 'T' of his helmet. "I am Vile, former Class A Maverick Hunter. But now I work with Sigma, though that fool doesn't know what he has coming... Hee hee hee...."  
"Vile?" the blue Reploid shuttered. "So what are you doing here then?"  
"I'm just here to cause trouble for you!" Vile replied, he pressed a button on his Ride Armor, causing the arms to punch a few times in the air. "Think you can take me little boy?"  
"The name is MegaMan X!" X hissed, he charged his buster again, firing it towards the Ride Armor.  
Vile's Ride Armor caught the shot with a single hand, not even a dent was made. "That's all you've got? Boy they don't equip you guys even with standard equipment anymore... Zero's just making this too easy for me, here kid, THIS is a REAL cannon!" he placed a hand over his cannon, pointing it at X, as it fired a massive shot.  
KA-BOOM! X was hit hard, and throw up into the air, Vile drove his Ride Armor to the blue Reploid, snatching him in mid-air.  
The blue Reploid struggled to free himself. "UGH!" he groaned.  
"You underestimated me...." Vile said with a chuckle, now two red 'eyes' glowed. "You'll pay the price for that...."  
Electric sparks filled the Ride Armor's hand, it shocked X intensively, as the Reploid whaled in pain, Vile only laughed louder.  
"You worthless piece of scrap metal, did you think you could defeat me?" the purple Reploid laughed.  
X's systems where blacking out, he cold barely see now, and he could feel his power draining. This looked like the end for him....  
SLICE! SLASH! BASH!!! X heard a series of noises as his eyes were closed. A sudden beam of light shot out and blew the Ride Armor's arm off.  
The blue Reploid opened his eyes as he crashed to the ground, he saw a welcome sight. "ROLL!"  
"X! Are you alright?" the blonde-haired Reploid asked her brother.  
"Yeah... Thanks to you..." he nodded.  
Zero smiled and then glared at Vile, who had his arms folded.  
"Hmpf... Zero... Why would someone as powerful as you protect something as worthless as him?" the ex-Hunter asked.  
"Vile... You're nothing but a Maverick to me now...." the red Reploid replied. "Why did you come back?"  
"Unfinished business." the purple Reploid simply said, as the drop-ship's door opened again.  
"You're not getting away from me this time!" Zero cried, firing her buster.  
Vile leapt out of the Ride Armor just as her shot hit, causing the Ride Armor to explode. The purple Reploid barely caught the ledge of the door. "Sigma was wrong! You're not the Reploid with the power to change the world. I am! Me, Vile! Gah ha ha ha ha ha!" he laughed as the drop-ship flew off.  
"Damn...." the crimson Hunter cursed, she turned to her brother, who sat up, but was starring at the ground, his eyes closed.  
".... I guess I'm not powerful enough to beat him...." he spoke quietly, but loud enough for his sister to hear.  
Zero walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder. "X, you shouldn't expect to be able to defeat him, he is designed to be a war machine. He was a top Hunter at one time, and as good as I am. You're not at full power yet, after all you just woke up." she pointed out, extending a hand.  
X sighed and grabbed her hand, pulling himself up.  
"If you use all the abilities Dr. Light designed you with you'll become stronger..." she continued. "Who knows, you might even become as powerful as I have." she smiled at him. "X, I know you can do it!"  
X cracked a smile, as he stood up. "..... Thanks, Roll..."  
Zero sighed, narrowing her eyes. "Call me Zero, will you?"


	3. Episode 3: The Maverick Hunter Headquarters, and Dr. Light's Capsule

X & Zero arrived at a huge building, it had the letters 'MHHQ' on the top.  
"Is this the place?" the blue Reploid asked.  
His sister nodded. "Yep, welcome to the Maverick Hunter Headquarters!"  
The siblings stepped inside, a female Reploid with long brown hair greeted them. "Zero! You're safe!" she cried.  
The female Reploid wore a metal dress that was mostly red and blue, with a chest plate over her that was white with red trim, and a blue 'R' in the corner.  
"X, this is Iris, our Operator...." Zero said, introducing the two. "Iris, this is my brother Megaman X."  
Then brown haired Reploid bowed. "Pleased to meet you."  
X blinked a few times, and waved. "Hi..."  
"Operators help Hunters when out on missions, they scan the area for data, give them a layout...." Zero continued to explain. "It's really helpful out on the field..."  
A green Reploid interrupted them. "Zero.... What happened to the Ride Armor you left with?" he growled. This Reploid was mostly green, he had a powerpack on his back, and red goggles over his eyes.  
"Oh hi Douglas...." Zero said in a tone like she was avoiding him. "Um, about that...." a sweatdrop appeared over her head. "It kinda.... Blew up...."  
"AGAIN?!!?" the green Reploid hollered. "Zero, you're a hazard to machinery!"  
"That's why I'm a Maverick Hunter." she joked back, but Douglas wasn't laughing.  
The green Reploid sighed, then finally noticed X. "Who's he?" he asked, pointing at the blue Reploid.  
"This is Zero's brother, the one she's told us all about!" Iris cried.  
"Oh, nice to meet you, I'm Douglas, weapons and armor specialist." the green Reploid said, spinning one of his tools in his hand. "I'm a one-stop repair shop for all your needs."  
"I'll keep that in mind...." X said, a little over-whelmed with everything that was happening.  
"We need to head back to Dr. Cain, he has the rest of the notes Dr. Light left about your upgrades...." Zero said, heading into another room. ".... Where's Middy?" she asked, looking around.  
"He got called out not long ago...." Iris explained.  
"He didn't say about what." Douglas added.  
"That's odd." the blonde haired Reploid said, placing a hand on her chin. "Well nevermind... Is my Ride Chaser fixed?"  
"For now...." Douglas grumbled. "TRY not to destroy this one as fast....."  
Zero winked. "Oh Douglas, you should know me better than that. C'mon, bro!"  
X was still very confused. At some times he was wondering if this was all just a crazy dream or if it was real. "Okay...."  
Zero stepped into a large room filled with all kinds of machine robots, riders, and other things. She stepped up to a purple bike-like machine, but there were no wheels.  
"What's that?" X asked.  
"It's my Ride Chaser." his sister answered. "It helps us get around fast, hop on!"  
The blue Reploid got on right after she did, strapping his arms around her waist to support himself on there.  
"Hold on tight!" Zero said, as she turned it on.  
The Ride Chaser made a loud noise, as it charged up. The lights all over it glowed brightly, and an orb in the front shinned. The bottom half of the Ride Chaser looked like an electric storm went off, as it hovered above the ground. The gate in front of them opened up. VROOM! The Ride Chaser took off quickly.  
"This thing's fast!" X cried, barely able to hold on. He felt like he was going to fall off.  
"That's why I told you to hold on!" his sister remarked.  
The Ride Chaser covered ground fast, X could barely see the road, everything flashed by like a blur. But their ride was interrupted. A few moments after driving through, an explosion hit the Ride Chaser, destroying it, sending the 2 Reploids flying.  
"YIKES!" the blue Reploid cried, as they both crashed ontop of each other, then the ground fell out from under them.  
An octopus-like Reploid looked over the wreck of the Ride Chaser. "I KILLED ZERO!" he declared.  
"Yeah right..." a penguin-like Reploid groaned.  
"Who was that new guy with her?" an eagle-like Reploid asked.  
"Who cares?" a mammoth-like Reploid asked. "Our job is to make sure she's dead, so where are the remains?"  
"They must have landed around here somewhere...." an armadillo-like Reploid said, looking around.

Little did the Mavericks know that the Reploids they were searching for were down below, in a cave they stumbled into when the ground caved in.  
"Ouch... That was a rough landing...." Zero groaned, holding her head. "X? X? Are you okay?"  
The blue Reploid sat up. "Owww..... Yeah, I'm okay Roll."  
The blonde haired Reploid rolled her eyes again. "Zero, it's Zero! Z-E-R-O! How hard is that to remember?" she hollered. "You don't see me calling you Rock!"  
X giggled a little at his sister's remark. "What is it with you and this 'Zero' what does it mean anyway?" he asked. "That you're a whole lot of nothing and weak?"  
Zero started growling as a fiery aura of anger could be seen covering her, she shot a death glare at her brother. "WHAT?!?!?!?" she looked VERY scary now, it send a chill down X's system.  
"Um, oh it's ZERO!" he said, shaking a little. "Nice, STRONG, name sis!" he gave a 'thumps up' while scared to death.  
Zero's rage calmed down as she saw a flashing blue light behind her dense brother. She focused her eyes ahead, and talked now in a quieter tone. "What is that?"  
X didn't turn around at first, he let his sister pass him, while closing his eyes and sighing. "Saved..... Thank you...." he whispered.  
"Mega, come look at this!" the red Reploid called out.  
X ran over to find a large, light blue capsule. The top had wires on the top over a red gem in the center, the bottom half was a chamber, and between the two was glass, which opened. A light filled the center, and soon took shape of a very old man, but the Reploid siblings knew very well who it was. "Dr. Light!!!!"  
The hologram spoke. "My name is Thomas Light. This is a message for X... I entrust the future to you."  
"It's a recorded message...." Zero said. "He must had made these before he died...."  
"X, I gave you the ability to choose your own path in life, and I hoped the world would allow you to choose a peaceful one. If you've come across this capsule, I fear you must be in the midst of a difficult battle, now it seems that you are destined to fight." the hologram said. "It saddens me to think that the war has begun... But I know that you can bring it to a peaceful conclusion, X, you always have..... Because I thought the world might need a new champion, I have hidden capsules like this one. If you find and use them you will be able to increase your power beyond anything the world has ever known. I believe that you will use them in the cause of justice. Equip the parts you find in this capsule... They might be considered dangerous powers to possess, but I trust that you will use them for good."  
X slowly stepped into the capsule. A flash of blinding blue light surrounded him. It felt warm and was something like he never felt before. Soon after he opened his eyes, his armor had changed completely!  
"Are you okay X?" Zero asked, she had to cover her eyes from the intense light.  
"Better than ever sis!" X stepped out of the capsule. Now Zero could see his new armor. It was covered in white now, with some blue trim, yellow as well. He looked more powerful than before.  
"There are several of these armors I've created for you." the hologram appeared and spoke again. "You can turn them off whenever they are not needed, but beware as they can be destroyed. This is incase you need an edge, in the future. X, you've always made the right decision, I trust you know, as I'm sorry I can't be there with you now, to guide you as I always did.... I'm counting on you, X. You are humanity's last hope..." the hologram slowly faded, and the capsule's lights grew dark.  
"So Dr. Light left behind upgrades...." Zero was thinking out loud.  
"So let's get the heck out of here, huh Roll?" X asked, he held out his new buster.  
"It's Zer.... I give up....." the red Reploid sighed.  
X held his buster with his free hand, as he charged it up with a massive blast of energy he shot at the ceiling. This buster shot was much more powerful than before, blowing a whole large enough for them to crawl out.  
"Dang, with the Ride Chaser broken it'll take longer on foot...." Zero groaned. "And we're out of range for communications...."  
"So what do we do now?" her brother asked.  
"You wait here incase whoever gave us that welcome comes back...." Zero said, sighing. "Since you don't know your way around here, I'll try to find a transport to get back to Dr. Cain's Lab."  
"Are you trying to make me stay behind again?" X growled.  
The blonde haired Reploid sighed. "No, actually I'd rather you come with, but I want you to cover my back, so we don't get ambushed again."  
"Oh, okay." the newly powered Reploid grinned. "If anyone comes along I'll test the armor out!"  
"..... That's what I'm afraid of...." the leader of the Maverick Hunter groaned. "Look, try not to find trouble and stay out of it? .... Or sense when did you become me?"  
".... Good point, I'll stay here." X said, still grinning.  
Zero smiled, and dashed off. X stood around, looking at the area around him.  
"SEE? I told you!" a voice could be heard not far off.  
"DAMMIT!" another voice growled.  
"What the....?" X spun around, seeing the group of Maverick that had ambushed them before. "Who are you guys?"  
"Okay newbie, let's make this nice and simple so you don't fry your circuits...." the armadillo Reploid said.  
"Just tell us where your leader Zero is and we won't hurt you...." the penguin Reploid said.  
The octopus Reploid looked confused. "We won't?"  
"SHUT UP!" the eagle Reploid snapped.  
"No way." X shook his head, he couldn't believe this bunch.  
"Boy this rookie sure is stupid..." the mammoth Reploid said.  
"I'll ask again, WHO are you?" X asked, getting annoyed by now.  
"Hey this idiot must be new not to know us!" an ape-like Reploid said.  
"We were all Maverick Hunters at one time." a chameleon-like Reploid said.  
"Until Master Sigma showed us how we don't need the humans." the penguin Reploid said. "I am Chill Penguin!"  
"The name's Spark Mandrill." the ape Reploid said, banging his chest.  
"Armored Armadillo..." the armadillo Reploid said, spinning in and out of his shell.  
"I am called Boomer Kuwanger." a red Reploid with a sharp blades on top of his head said.  
"I am Launch Octopus!" the octopus Reploid declared.  
The chameleon Reploid appeared behind X. "Sting Chameleon's the name, camouflage is the game!"  
The eagle Reploid extended his wings. "Storm Eagle...." he simply said.  
"And I...." the mammoth Reploid stomped his foot. "Am Flame Mammoth!"  
X gulped. Here Zero told him to stay out of trouble, and here trouble just found him! He was outnumbered, how could he take on 8 Mavericks when just before he couldn't even handle one? X knew one thing for sure, he wasn't going to be able to get away without a fight!


	4. Episode 4: The Armor's True Power

The battle broke out right away, X gave off a Charge Shot and ran quickly, he knew he had to  
keep moving, as each one could target him if he stood still.  
"Shotgun Ice!" Chill Penguin held out his buster, shooting a block of ice.  
"Boomerang Cutter!" Boomer Kuwanger cried, he took the boomerang off his head and hurled it.  
"Homing Torpedo!" Launch Octopus shot out a series of missiles from his tentacles.  
X gulped, he ducked the boomerang, grabbed it and threw it into the block of ice, cutting it, but  
as he was busy doing that the missiles got hit.  
KA-BOOM! The Reploid was blown backwards and fell. Flame Mammoth stood over him.  
"You little weakling!" the large Maverick declared, ready to stomp on X's head.  
X shuttered, but rolled away just in time, and jumped up. But he was hit, from behind.  
Sting Chameleon showed himself, giggling. "Can't fight what you can't see!"  
Spark Mandrill was next, hurling balls of electricity at X.  
"Yikes!" cried X, backflipping away.  
But he didn't see Armored Armadillo, rolled up into a ball and charging, he bashed into X and sent  
him flying right into a cyclone Storm Eagle kicked up.  
As X came crashing down, the 8 Mavericks stood, ready to give him more.  
".... I can't beat them like this...." X said weakly, he stood up. "If only I could figure out their  
weakness..."  
"Let's give him another burst!" Spark Mandrill grinned. "Electric Spark!" he hurled another ball of  
electricity at X, paralyzing him for a moment.  
Armored Armadillo was coming up behind X again, and coming fast.  
X turned and fired a Charge Shot, followed by a few other shots. Each one bounced off. "Dang it,  
his armor is too strong..."  
Armored Armadillo crashed into X again, tossing him into the air. The Reploid fell down with a  
thud.  
"There's got to be something..." X muttered. "Even with the new Armor I'm not strong  
enough...."  
"One more time!" cried Spark Mandrill, hurling another attack, as Armored Armadillo circled and  
rolled towards X again.  
X saw this time, and jumped up as quick as he could, and fired another Charge Shot. Though it  
did bounce off, it pushed Armored Armadillo towards the Electric Spark attack!  
"AAAIIIEEEE!!!!" cried Armored Armadillo, as he was zapped, his armor pieces blew off.  
"That's it!" X cried. "They're weak against each other's powers!!!"  
"YOU MORON!" Armadillo hollered.  
"Hey, you got in the way!" Spark Mandrill growled.  
"I'll show you how it's done!" Flame Mammoth cried, jumping into the air. "Oiling Jump Press!"  
as he landed, shots of flames came up from the ground, in a path towards X.  
X dashed away quickly, and on his way grabbed Chill Penguin's arm and flung him into the path of  
fire. "How about hot fried Penguin instead?!?"  
"NOOO!!!! HOT! HOT!!!!" Chill Penguin hollered, as he entered the heat his body erupted into  
flames.  
"I just hope this still works!" X cried, snatching Chill Penguin's arm where his buster was, not  
minding the heat very much as his hand glowed, he felt a power enter his body. "Yes! It still  
works!" he retracted his hand and fired the Shotgun Ice at Chill Penguin, finishing off the  
Maverick as he exploded.  
"He copied Penguin's power!" Storm Eagle cried.  
"That's not all!" X backflipped into the air, and grabbed Armadillo's arm, coping his power, then  
firing a Charge Shot to finish him.  
BOOM! Armadillo exploded, as he no longer had his armor to protect him.  
"2 down!" X smirked, but something grabbed him from behind.  
"Don't get cocky kid!" Boomerang Kuwanger said. "Dead Lift!" he leapt high into the air and  
threw X to the ground.  
CRUNCH! X's armor took major damage, but he knew he couldn't quit here.  
Boomerang Kuwanger tossed his boomerang again. X dashed away, but not for long.  
"Got ya!" Launch Octopus' tentacles grabbed X, but as he did they glowed slightly, X started  
feeling weaker.  
"He's draining my energy...." X said weakly, he had to get away. Then he spotted the boomerang,  
still flying in the air. X fired a weak shot at it, enough to change its direction, so it came and cut  
off Octopus' arms.  
"AAAAHHH!! My arms!!!" Launch Octopus cried.  
"That's not all!" X touched the octopus' forehead, copying his powers, before destroying the  
Maverick with a fully powered Charge Shot.  
"Dash Punch!" Spark Mandrill dashed into X, punching him in the face.  
"Shotgun Ice!" X fired at Spark Mandrill, freezing the Maverick on the spot. "Freeze!"  
"Storm Tornado!" Storm Eagle fired another cyclone, which picked up both X & the frozen  
monkey Maverick.  
In the cyclone, X struggled to copy Spark Mandrill's power, as after they crashed the Maverick  
fell to pieces.  
"Rolling Shield!" X fired a rolling ball of purple energy.  
Storm Eagle was hit, but Boomerang Kuwanger gave another shot with his boomerang.  
"Guarding!" X charged up Armored Armadillo's weapon, creating a shield. "Is that the best you've  
got?" He grabbed Kuwanger's arm and copied his weapon, then he fired one powerful Charge  
Shot, destroying Kuwanger.  
"Now who's left?" X asked, as a steel tongue hit him.  
Sting Chameleon showed himself. "Irontongue!" he hurled his tongue at him again, then  
disappeared.  
"How do I fight this guy?" X asked. "Wait.... Homing Torpedo!" he fired a few of Launch  
Octopus' Torpedoes, which hit Sting Chameleon dead on!  
"Ahhh!!" the chameleon growled, as he appeared X copied his weapon.  
"Boomerang Cutter!" X cried, shooting the Boomerang which finished the Maverick. BOOM!  
"Diving!" Storm Eagle had recovered and dove into X, though X grabbed his arm and copied his  
weapon once he did.  
"Chameleon Sting!!!" X cried, firing the green bursts of light, that knocked Storm Eagle back.  
"Electric Spark!"  
KA-BOOM! Storm Eagle was destroyed.  
"You finished all those morons, but now you have to face me!" Flame Mammoth huffed. "Fire  
Wave!" he shot a steady stream of fire at X.  
"Guarding!" X used Armored Armadillo's shield, and then fired Storm Eagle's cyclone. "Storm  
Tornado!!!"  
"YIKES!!!!!" Flame Mammoth was taken up into the cyclone, and crashed down. From his  
remains X copied his weapon data.  
X stood there, victorious over the broken pile of Mavericks, he let out a sigh of relief.  
But then he heard a noise, X feared he wasn't out of this yet, and teased for battle.  
But what came was a welcome sight, Zero dashed up at looked at her brother worried. "X, I  
heard blasts, are you okay?"  
"Nothing I couldn't handle sis." X said confidently, he didn't want to tell her that he really could  
have needed her a few moments ago.  
Zero looked around at the destruction of the Mavericks, she turned back at X with a surprised  
look. ".... You took all of them on your own?"  
X chuckled, and blew on his buster. "Yep, see? Told ya I could handle it." he grinned, turning his  
brand new armor off, returning to his normal blue color.  
The crimson Reploid bent over the Maverick remains, appearing to be looking for something.  
"What is it Roll?" X asked.  
"I'm trying to see if I can download the recent location of Sigma's new base...." the blonde  
Reploid explained, she rolled her eyes as she knew there was no point in reminding him to call her  
Zero.  
A flashing light emitted from one of the Mavericks, as Zero seemed to crack a smile as she stood  
up. "Alia, Iris, both of you work on his data I'm sending to you."  
"Roger." both girls said over the radio.  
"Find something?" X asked.  
Zero nodded, her eyes closed in thought, as she received the response, she grabbed her brother's  
shoulder. "Finally! We've found Sigma's Fortress! Let's go in and put an end to his war against the  
humans!"  
X smirked. He was glad that there was a possibility to end this once and for all, even though he  
had only just joined the fight, he wanted to end it badly, as he could tell his sister had been dealing  
with this for a long time.  
"Are you ready for this X?" Zero asked.  
X nodded. "I sure am, let's stop this Sigma and show him our combined power!"


	5. Episode 5: Zero's Final Wish

As the Maverick Hunters reached only inches away from Sigma's Fortress, Zero turned to her brother. "This place is more secure than I thought. Let's split up. I'll go in first and then you can slip in while I keep the main defense force busy!"  
X nodded. "Becareful Roll."  
"It's Z.... Nevermind." Zero sighed, dashing off.  
X turned his armor back on, dashing towards the base.  
BOOM! A bomb stopped his path, and a large turtle-like Maverick was firing bombs at him.  
"You're not going to get in my way!" X declared, firing his Charge Shot, destroying it.  
But X looked ahead, it was high up to get inside Sigma's Fortress, and there was a big gap from where he was standing, it looked like a long fall.  
"How did I get up there?" the Reploid wondered.  
Then he saw a few Mavericks flying in the air. X had an idea.  
"Storm Tornado!" X fired the cyclone out, and jumped into it, he flew all the way up to one of the flying Mavericks, holding on for his life.  
The Maverick didn't like the idea of a passenger, and tried to shake him off.  
As soon as he got closer to the cliff, he jumped, and barely got a foothold to climb up.  
"That was a close one...." X gasped.  
But it wasn't over yet, a welcome party of small Mavericks were waiting for him at the top.  
"Homing Torpedo!" X fired a series of the torpedoes into the group, he dashed between the damage and inside.  
BZZZTTTT.... A large blue and green Maverick stood in the way, and was charging a massive blast.  
"Un-oh." X gulped.  
SLASH! The Maverick was cut in half and fell into pieces, Zero stood behind the wreckage.  
"Roll!" X smiled.  
"What would you do without me?" she teased.

The Maverick Hunters walked further in, strange though, no other Mavericks attacked them.  
"I don't like this, it's too quiet...." Zero said.  
".... I wanted to make sure I get to destroy you myself.... You worried about Sigma when you should've been worried about me!" a voice loomed.  
Zero darted her sight ahead, Vile!  
"Stay back X, I'll take him on!" the crimson Reploid said, extending her arm to protect X.  
"Then catch me if you can!" Vile said, he opened the door quickly and dashed off.  
"Come back you coward!" Zero ran off after him.  
"Wait Roll!" X cried, but it was too late.  
After a few moments, X heard a series of noises. CRASH! BANG! STOMP! STOMP!! SLASH!! BLAST!!! VOOM!!!!! .........  
"That didn't sound good!" X cried, he ran into the room after them.  
As X entered the next room, a horror came across his face as he saw his sister trapped inside a cage, Vile in his Ride Armor, chuckling.  
"X, do what I tell you or she's history!" Vile said.  
Zero growled. "Don't listen to him X! Go ahead and blast him!!" she was struggling to get out.  
Vile only merely laughed. "Dream on Zero! X knows he can't defeat me! My armored carrier is more than a match for his ancient weapons!"  
"That may be, but I can't let you hurt her!" X cried, he charged up a shot and fired.  
The Ride Armor dashed around it and Vile shot a few rounds off the cannon on his shoulder.  
X backflipped, avoiding each shot barely, he held up his buster and fired again.  
DINK! The shot bounced off the Ride Armor!  
"Now do you see that's its useless?" the purple Reploid asked, dashing forward.  
"Boomerang Cutter!" X fired a few of the Boomerangs, the Ride Armor caught them and crushed them.  
"X, get away! You can't beat that armor!" Zero warned.  
X raced through his mind, he had to think of something. "Chameleon Sting!" he fired some of the green stingers at Vile.  
The Maverick chuckled as they bounced off the Ride Armor. "So you think by getting those idiot's powers you'd be stronger?"  
X gritted his teeth, and thought he'd try another. "Shotgun Ice!" he fired the block of ice.  
Vile's Ride Armor grabbed the ice block, and threw it back at X, followed by a power shot from his cannon.  
"Ahhh!!!" X whaled in pain.  
Vile's cannon then fired a different shot, a paralyzing laser, that hit X, surrounding his body with electricity, he cried out as he couldn't move.  
"What a waste...." Vile chuckled. "Can't you see now that you are no where near strong enough to defeat me?"  
"X!!!!" Zero cried, she couldn't take anymore, and finally broke out of the cage, grabbed the back of Vile's Ride Armor. "Maybe..... But I'm not through yet!"  
"WHAT?!?" Vile cried, in surprise.  
Zero gulped as she moved her buster arm into the Ride Armor, and fired her most powerful Charge Shot.  
BLAST!!! KA-BOOM!!!! A loud explosion rocked the fortress, X couldn't see through all the smoke. "ROLL!!!!!!!" X cried out.  
The smoke finally cleared, Vile standing without his Ride Armor, his body badly cracked up and damaged. Zero was not visible.  
Vile stood and laughed, as he turned what looked like half of Zero's body lay behind him. "What a worthless gesture! I can't be defeated so easily! So X, it's just you and me now!"  
Tears started rolling down X's eyes, as he was one of the very few Reploid that could cry. Dr. Light gave him that ability. ".... Roll..." he sobbed, he knew he had to stop Vile, because his sister just sacrificed herself to protect him....  
Vile was walking towards him, ready to attack again.  
X's body lit up, the jewel on his helmet shined brightly, as suddenly, the electric field around him broke, and he stood up, appearing to be back at full power!  
Vile stood, shocked for a moment. "What the...!? Where did that energy come from??" his red 'eye' glowed. "It really doesn't matter how much energy you absorb X, you are still for too weak! Prepare to be terminated!"  
X lost it, he charged at Vile, with a series of kicks and punches, followed by his buster shots.  
"Electric Spark!" X cried, firing it at Vile, surging the Maverick with electricity.  
The purple Maverick tumbled a little, and tried to stand up, he still had major damage from Zero, but he charged his cannon.  
X charged up the Chameleon Sting, and something happened, he disappeared!  
"What?" Vile said in confusion.  
Then X appeared, and shoved a Homing Torpedo into his cannon, causing it to implode.  
"You little!" Vile growled, ready to hit X, but something grabbed his leg.  
"Get him X, now!" Zero cried.  
X charged up his most powerful Charge Shot yet, and fired.  
BOOM!!!! Vile was tossed across the room, crashing into a wall with a huge hole in his body. The red 'eye' flickered as the light went out.  
X sighed, then rushed to Zero's side, bending over.  
The crimson Reploid was badly damaged. Her left arm was blown off, her legs were gone long with half her waist. Her helmet was cracked, some of her blonde hair was showing through it, the jewel on the helmet was shattered. The two jewels on her chest were also shattered, and her right arm was badly damaged, but the buster still looking operational.  
"Roll!" X cried. "Roll! Please say something!"  
Zero groaned, opening her eyes very slowly. ".... X-X.... X, I've taken too much damage....." she barely said between pants. "Auto repair systems can't handle it... My power is fading fast..." her robotic body starting sparking. "I messed up again didn't I?" she chuckled weakly.  
"No you didn't, you saved my life.... Thanks Zero." X said.  
Zero's eyes widened. "You.... You called me Zero...." she smiled weakly.  
X smirked. "You deserve it... I'll get you back to Dr. Cain. Don't waste your energy talking, Zero. We've gotta fix you up."  
The blonde Reploid shook her head. "No, it's too late for me... And we have to stop Sigma, we've come this far...." she spoke slowly, it seemed hard for her to keep her eyes open. ".... If we don't, he'll regroup and come back at us even worse, we can't give up now.... X, I'm sorry, but I have to leave this to you.... You are more powerful than you were before, but Sigma is much more than he appears to be. You're going to need an edge...."  
"Zero, no! Stay with me!" X cried, he couldn't believe this was happening, they had only just been reunited, he couldn't bare the thought of losing Roll, not after everything they had just been through. ".... Roll, you can't die!"  
Zero smiled, and lifted her remaining arm in the air, and whacked it down, breaking off her arm cannon. "Take my Arm Cannon and your attack power should increase." she explained. "Your power is greater than I thought. Maybe you can destroy Sigma... Good luck, X! ...... Get him for both of us, my power is with you..... I love you Rock... Good.... B-bye.........." her eyes slowly closed.  
"Roll? Zero?" X cried, his face turning into pain.  
Zero did not answer, all her systems shut down.  
"Zero? Roll!" X cried, shaking her in his arms, crying as he was. "Roll!!! Zero!!!! No!!! Please!!!! No, Roll! Zero, please don't die!!! RRRRROOOOLLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"


	6. Episode 6: Revenge on a Stranger

"Master Sigma! Master Sigma!" a Maverick came running in, the center room of Sigma's Fortress.  
A Reploid stood tall near a view-screen. His back was turned, showing only his flowing red cape that covered his body. His chin was big, and a red jewel on his forehead. His hands were white, and he had large brown boots. Silver shoulder blades were on his shoulders, holding his cloak up. His Reploid head had no hair, and his blue eyes emitted a small light, with scars on the top and bottom of his eyes lids. ".... What?" he barked.  
"Vile has been destroyed!" the Maverick reported.  
"...." Sigma stood silent, and turned. He moved his cape, showing parts of his green body, the symbol all the Mavericks carried on their bodies was on the right side of his chest armor. "... How did this happen?"  
"From what we understand is that he was destroyed in a battle along with Zero." the Maverick continued.  
"... What?!? Zero has been destroyed?!?!" Sigma said eagerly.  
"Yes, we found the remains of both of them." the Maverick said.  
"MWAH HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!!!" Sigma roared in laughter. "FINALLY!!!! SHE'S DEAD!!!! At last the only torn left in my side has been taken down! Now there's no one left!"  
BLAST! A shot went right through the Maverick that stood before Sigma, destroying it.  
"What?" Sigma spun around, X stood in the doorway, holding his buster. "Who the hell are you?"  
"My name is Megaman X......" X replied, not taking his buster from sight of Sigma. ".... You must be Sigma...."  
Sigma arched an eyebrow, this name sounded familiar. "So, you are the new Reploid Vile spoke of.... The one Zero was training....."  
"You're going to pay for what you have done!!!!!" X lashed out right away, rapidly firing his buster.  
Sigma avoided the shots, though his face filled with confusion. "Who do you think you are? You think you can challenge me?!?"  
X didn't respond, all that was going through his mind was the thought of revenge. "I will avenge my sister!"  
Sigma rolled his eyes in thought. "... Sister? What sister? I've never even met you, how could......... Wait...." a thought crossed his mind. ".... Megaman..... Zero mentioned before she had a brother! The one Dr. Cain was searching for!"  
As Sigma was busy thinking this out, X took this chance and fired his Charge Shot.  
Sigma snapped to, reaching at his belt for a handle, which looked a little like Zero's Z-Saber. A blade appeared and slashed the blast in half. "... So, you're Zero's brother, after all this time.... Welcome! So I see you managed to get here by yourself. Very impressive!"  
X growled, the rage building inside of him. "Why?!? Why turn on the humans like this? You even turned on your own creator!!!"  
"You don't understand at all, do you?" Sigma asked. "But how could you? You've only just come into this new world, times have changed since your time. Reploids must rise above humans, we aren't allowed to have our own voice, so we shall make our own world!"  
"You're sick!" X yelled. "Reploids & humans should try to work together, and live together in peace!"  
"Those crazy ideals are over-rated." Sigma protested. "After the first few Maverick outbreaks all of us were treated differently. We were being used to wipe out our own kind! While the humans just could sit back and do nothing... No, we can take this world for ourselves, and make a utopia for Reploids! X, join us, don't make the same mistake Zero did, look what she got!"  
That did it, a fuse snapped on X, and he leapt after Sigma, a crazed look in his eyes.  
Sigma laughed, and snapped his fingers. A purple dog leapt out and tackled X.  
"I could destroy you, but I would not rob my pet of that pleasure." Sigma said. "He knows how to deal with betrayers. Should you live, I will be waiting for you. Don't disappoint me X!" he chuckled, and stepped back.  
"Grrrr..." Sigma's dog growled, trying to take a bite at X.  
X narrowed his eyes as he held the dog's head up with one hand, then quickly punched it off him with the other, followed by a shot from his buster.  
"ARF!" the dog leapt back up, to tackle X again.  
X grabbed a pipe from the ground, he quickly circled his arm up as the dog opened its large jaw, ready for a bite. CLAP! The dog ended up biting down hard on the pipe, X then grinned, and moved around in circles, and threw the pipe, while the dog was still holding on it, into the wall.  
"YELP!" the dog cried, its body sparked a little from the damage but got back up.  
The Maverick Hunter said nothing as he charged up his buster.  
But Sigma's dog now moved quicker, it dashed along the walls and tackled X, then shot a few balls of energy.  
ZAP! X was hit several times, he clenched his fist and thought about his next move.  
"ROWL!" the dog circled behind him and knocked him over, pouncing on his back.  
"GET OFF!" X hollered, he held up his buster behind his back, his face crushed against the floor by the annoying robot dog. "HOMING TORPEDO!"  
A few torpedoes shot out from X's buster, homing in on the dog and blasting it off. The Blue Reploid stood up, he had enough of this.  
"Grrrr...." Sigma's dog growled, ready to pounce again.  
"Play dead!" X hissed, he dashed around the dog and fired the Shotgun Ice.  
The dog bounced around a few shots, but then was hit, and frozen in place.  
X then charged up his X-Buster, and fired. KA-BOOM!!!! The dog was destroyed.  
Sigma clapped his hands. "Excellent job, X! I see why Zero counted on you. You are almost as good a hunter as I was." he smirked. "But, the time of your destruction has arrived! I gave you an offer to join us, what a waste. You shall regret ever having defied me!" he then with one motion, removed his cape, and drew his saber. With his cloak gone, his green armor and red legs were visable.  
X didn't even have time to react, Sigma was right in front of him, slashing his saber across his chest.  
X didn't even scream from the pain, the rage inside of him was too great, all that ran through his mind was destroying the Maverick in front of him.  
The blue Reploid charged up his buster and fired, but Sigma moved so fast he was a hard target to hit.  
"That's the best you've got?" Sigma teased, he kicked the wall and came down, kicking his opponet in the face.  
X was firing blindly in his rage, he didn't even take the time to aim after a while. The pain inside of him was too much to handle, and was turning into pure hate.  
"So Zero wasted her life saving you?" Sigma chuckled. "I must thank you, before you came along Zero has no weakness, and in 1 day she blows herself up for a worthless Reploid! I love it!"  
That drew the final straw on X, he tackle Sigma this time, screaming as he punched the Maverick's face over and over again.  
"Yes! Yes! Your rage is powerful...." Sigma said, smirking even while being hit, but soon he grasped X by the neck and held him up. "Heh, you would have made an interesting addition to my Mavericks.... Your rage would have fed the virus the power to make you stronger...."  
"Me...? A Maverick....?" X thought to himself. "No, Dr. Light build me for good..... What am I doing? ....."  
"X...." a voice boomed into X's head.  
"Dr. Light...?" X said in his thoughts.  
"X.... I gave you the ability to make your own choices, but you must make the right ones." Dr. Light's voice, an echo of something he once told X. "We humans learn from our mistakes, but we must not lose ourselves to a blind less rage.... With that we can lose everything we are..... X, pain and loss can be our greatest battle, don't lose to it... I know it will be painful when I'm gone, but don't blame yourself, and don't let that sorrow turn into hate...."  
X's eyes blinked in thought, remembering what Dr. Light had told him right before he was sealed in the capsule. "..... Roll..... If I lose myself, I can't avenge your death...." he thought. "..... I won't lose myself to rage! I will win this fight!" the jewel on his helmet glowed.  
"What the?" Sigma cried.  
X broke free of Sigma's grip, and fired a Charge Shot into his face.  
"Argh! Where did that sudden power come from?" Sigma asked.  
"Sigma, I will stop you, and I won't lose myself to my rage...." X declared. "Chameleon Sting!" he fired a few of the green stinger blasts.  
Sigma dashed around them quickly, coming at X with his saber again.  
"Electric Spark!" X fired Spark Mandrill's Weapon.  
BZZZTTT... Sparks surrounded Sigma's body, freezing him in place.  
"Damn you!" Sigma growled. "But... How?!?"  
"Fire Wave!" X's buster shot out a massive hot flame at Sigma's face.  
"ARRGGHHH!!!" Sigma stepped back a little.  
"Storm Tornado!" X shot out the cyclone which grabbed Sigma, and tossed his saber away.  
The blue Reploid caught the saber, and charged into the cyclone, slashing Sigma's left arm off.  
As they both landed, X held the saber next to Sigma's head.  
"Arrr.... Do it...." Sigma egged him on.  
"No...." X said, throwing the saber. "I'm not like you. I'm not a ruthless killer, despite what you did to my sister.... Stop your actions against the humans and leave here, forever."  
"What?" Sigma laughed. "You think just like that you can stop everything? YOU FOOL!"  
The Maverick drew a hidden sword and tried to stab X in the back.  
"Not so fast!" X spun around quickly and fired a massive Charge Shot.  
KA-BOOM! A blast rocked the entire fortress. As the smoke cleared, all that remained was Sigma's head.  
X sighed, in relief. "... I did it...."  
"Hee hee hee hee...." Sigma's laughter echoed. "You think it's the end?!?"  
"What the?!" X cried.  
A large door opened, to reveal a large robot, about 10 times larger than X. It had a large head with green eyes, its arms were long and its hands were the size of platforms, they were a flat surface that could be almost used as hammers. Its center body seemed bolted to the floor, as it had no legs. Sigma's head slowly lifted up and entered its body, his eyes glowed as he was on the forehead of this huge robot. "It's not over yet, X! The battle! The angst! The destruction! I will make you understand the true potential of Reploids! The battle, has only just begun!"


	7. Episode 7: The Downfall of Sigma

X was in a state of panic as he tried to think of what to do, fast.  
Laser beams shot out from the large robots eyes at X, he dashed up and landed on one of the robots hand-like platforms.  
"I'll squash you like a bug!" Sigma cried.  
The platform started moving and knocked X off, then it was coming down fast to crush him!  
The blue Reploid rolled to the side, barely avoiding becoming a pancake.  
"Boomerang Cutter!" X fired a boomerang at Sigma, but it bounced off.  
"There has to be some way around this..." he thought to himself.  
X fired a shot at Sigma's body, but each shot was bouncing off.  
"It's not good!" Sigma chuckled. "You'll never defeat this armor!"  
X grit his teeth, he knew he couldn't have gotten this far and be beaten now.  
Sigma growled as a few panels on his arms opened, firing a series of lasers.  
"Yikes!!!" X cried, dashing away from them, but he couldn't outrun them.  
ZAP!!! X crashed into the wall, his armor was cracking up a little.  
"Charge Shot!" X fired at the massive robot.  
This shot came close to Sigma's head, he made a worried face as he blocked it with his arm.  
X blinked, thinking that he was on to something.  
Sigma smashed his hand down, making a large hole in the floor.  
"That's it!" the blue Reploid cried.  
X jumped onto his hand and ran up to near his head. "Rolling Shield!" he fired Armored Armadillo's Weapon at the Maverick's head.  
"GAH!" Sigma made a face as he was hit.  
X jumped back down to the ground right away, but Sigma's other hand smashed down on him, breaking his armor.  
"Oh no, there goes my armor!" the blue Reploid cried, returning to his normal color.  
"You're done for!" Sigma declared, crashing his hand down again.  
X tumbled over, running in his mind what to do next.  
"If only I could get a full power shot at his head...." the blue Reploid thought.  
"You little pest!" Sigma growled, trying to squash X with his giant hands.  
"I'll only get one shot...." X muttered, the jewel on his head glowed.  
Sigma stomped his hand down, and X leapt onto it.  
"Shotgun Ice!" the blue Reploid fired at the huge platform hand, freezing it in place.  
X ran as fast as he could up Sigma's arm, towards his head.  
"Not so fast!" Sigma took his other arm, swinging it to knock the Reploid off.  
"Electric Spark!" X fired at the other platform. "And Boomerang Cutter!"  
First, the electric attack stopped Sigma's arm from moving, then the boomerang cut at the connection point for the platform, causing it to fall off.  
"What?!?" Sigma cried.  
X continued up, his jewel glowing more bright than ever, as he leapt up high, right in front of Sigma's face.  
".... My power is with you...." Zero's voice echoed in X's head.  
"ARRGGHHH!!!!" X fired his buster with all his might, as it overheated from the blast and exploded right after, knocking X to the ground.  
Sigma's eyes widened in shock as the blast of energy hit him. "No!!! It's not possible! I'm a Reploid! I can't be destroyed by you!" he cried, as his large body was smoking, and starting to fall apart. "Why, X?! Why have you done this to us?! Without the humans, my Reploid brothers could have ushered in a new age...." he screamed, as his body was about to explode.  
"I better get out of here!" X cried, kicking a broken wall down and jumping out of the fortress.  
KA-BOOM!!!!!!!!! Sigma's Fortress exploded in a huge blast, it could be seen all the way at Maverick Hunter HQ.  
X stood at a nearby cliff, he barely pulled himself up there. Thoughts came across his mind as he stood up.  
"Roll..... I did it...." a single tear fell from his eye.

 

After a long walk back to the HQ, X was exhausted, though he felt empty inside. The loss of Zero was too great for him to handle, and even though he was victorious he didn't care. He would have traded anything for Roll to come back...  
"Dr. Cain! Someone's here!" Iris cried, looking over the video screen.  
"Did they make it?" Dr. Cain asked. "Are they okay?"  
Alia opened the door, X just about collapsed when he entered.  
"X, you did it!" Douglas cried. "... Oh god, you look horrible...."  
X said nothing, he just walked in silently.  
"X, Zero told us you were going after Sigma's Fortress." Dr. Cain said. "We saw an explosion, what happened?"  
"..... Sigma's Fortress was destroyed...." X spoke, in a deep voice.  
"It was?!?" Alia cried.  
"No way!" Double cried.  
"Alright!" Douglas cheered.  
"But.... Where's Zero?" Iris asked.  
X looked at the group sadly, and handed Dr. Cain something. It was Zero's Z-Saber, he had taken it after she died.  
Dr. Cain's eyes filled with pain, he knew what this meant.  
"That's her saber..." Alia said. ".... Doc, what's wrong?"  
"X, I'm so sorry....." Dr. Cain placed a hand on X's shoulder.  
"Wait... Are you saying that Zero.... Is...?" Double asked, a feared look on his face.  
"No, it can't be!" Iris cried.  
"..... She's gone..." X fell to the ground, holding his head. "I wasn't strong enough.... I couldn't save her...... She died protecting me!!!!"  
"No, it's not true!" Double cried. "Tell me it's not true!!!"  
Alia sobbed. ".... What will we do now?"  
Dr. Cain let out a sigh, helping X up. "X, Zero was the only one that kept this Hunter Unit going, in the band against Sigma...."  
"Sigma's gone, we won't..." X said, but something cut him off.  
The screen in the room flashed, showing a transmission.  
"We're getting an un-known signal." Alia said.  
The screen changed, showing Sigma! "You have won a temporary victory, X! What you destroyed was only a temporary body..... My spirit remains intact. In time I will find other bodies.... Strong enough to do my bidding and I will return. I shall see you soon, X.... Very soon...." the transmission ended.  
X rose up, anger filled his mind as he went through all this and Sigma still lived? For a moment, X had thought about quitting, until he saw that.  
"I fear Sigma will never stop..." Dr. Cain sighed. "I made him too powerful, I'm afraid...."  
"But with Zero gone, who will lead the hunters?" Iris asked.  
"I will..." X said firmly.  
"You?" Douglas asked.  
"I won't let my sister die in vain....." X declared. "I will take over, and lead the Maverick Hunters to victory... I won't rest until Sigma is destroyed, and the Reploids can be at peace with the humans.... Roll, I promise, I will finish what you started!"  
Dr. Cain smirked. "Very well then, it appears the battle is over, for now... But the war, has only just begun......"


	8. Episode 8: The Pirate Hunter

It has been 6 months since the destruction of Sigma and little has changed. The Maverick revolt started by Sigma has ended, but Megaman X and the new generation of Maverick Hunters have yet to destroy all of Sigma's followers. Though Sigma himself, sent a transmission to the Maverick Hunters informing them that he is very well alive.  
Megaman X and the rest of the hunters have tracked the last of the Mavericks to an abandoned reploid factory. There they hope to wipe out the rest of the resistance.  
Little did they suspect that real war is about to begin...

X found himself riding on his Ride Chaser, Douglas had built one for him. Thoughts raced through his mind, and flashes of that day, the day he was brought into this fight, and lost his sister in the process.  
"Dr. Cain said it would be possible to rebuild Zero if I found her parts...." the blue Reploid thought to himself. "But when I went back to the fortress they were gone....."  
KA-BOOM! A blast snapped X's attention to straight ahead. He zoomed the Ride Chaser over the massive damage to the area, trying to avoid running over wreckage.  
RAM! Something hit the Ride Chaser, propelling X into the air, he crashed into the ground, and looked up. "What was that?"  
"Hee hee hee!" an annoying voice echoed as something was moving, very fast in front of the Maverick Hunter.  
X Got his X-Buster ready, but couldn't get a clear shot from how fast this Reploid was moving. "Who are you?!?"  
The Reploid finally stopped, it looked like an Ostrich. "I'm Overdrive Ostrich!" he cried.  
"Oh great, another one of Sigma's lackeys...." the blue Reploid grumbled.  
But Overdrive Ostrich was extremely fast! He crashed into X before he could even blink.  
"What the?!" X cried, as Ostrich rammed into him several times.  
"Sonic Slicer!!" Overdrive fried a series of half-moon shaped bits of energy.  
"YIKES!!!" X ducked the shots.  
"Take this!!!" Ostrich rammed into X again, tossing him into the air.  
X charged up his buster and fired, but Ostrich was too fast!  
X groaned. "Armor on!" a blue light surrounded him, his armor turned white.  
"Sonic Slicer!" Ostrich fired again.  
"Rolling Shield!" X fired the rolling shield, which bounced the Sonic Slicer away.  
Overdrive sneered, and tried charging again.  
"You need a time out!" X cried. "Electric Spark!" he fired the spark of electricity which zapped Overdrive Ostrich.  
"YIIEEEEE!!!" the Maverick hollered.  
"Take a taste of your own medicine!" X cried, he grabbed Ostrich's arm and copied his weapon data. "Sonic Slicer!"  
The energy sliced through Overdrive, destroying him. X sighed, looking at the wreck of his Ride Chaser.  
"Douglas is going to kill me...." the Maverick Hunter groaned, turning off his armor.  
"Overdrive? Where are you?" another Maverick emerged.  
"Not again." X sweatdropped.  
"Hey you! What are you doing here?" the Maverick growled. This one looked like a sponge-octopus. "I'm Wire Sponge. Where's Overdrive Ostrich?"  
"In pieces over there." X grinned, pointing to the remains of the fallen Maverick.  
"Oh, think you're so strong Maverick Hunter?" Wire Sponge smirked. "Strike Chain!"  
The Maverick hurled an energy-based chain forward, that wrapped around X. ZAP! It started shocking X intensely, and he couldn't break free.  
"This'll teach you a lesson!" Wire Sponge chuckled.  
"I've.... Gotta.... Do.... Something...." X thought to himself. But he couldn't move, so he couldn't even fire a weapon.  
BZZZTTT.... The shocks were getting stronger. X's systems were frying, fast.  
"Looks like the end of the road for you...." Wire Sponge said.  
SLASH! SLICE! Suddenly, the chain was broken.  
X collapsed to the ground, but looked up. Wire Sponge was sliced in half, his pieces fell down to the Maverick Hunter, he copied the weapon data just before looking at what attacked the Maverick.  
A female Reploid stood where Wire Sponge was, she had blond hair and wore a small green amazon like outfit. A bandana held her hair up, and she wielded a long sickle in her right hand. Her green eyes glared at X. "....."  
X gulped, he didn't know if this woman was Maverick or not, but she just saved his life. ".... Un, thanks...."  
".... No prob kiddo." the woman smirked.  
X growled. "Kiddo? Who the hell does she think she is?" he cursed in his mind.  
"You need to work on your hunting skills rookie." the woman said. "You're lucky I was passing by on my way to Maverick Hunter Headquarters."  
X blinked. "You're a Maverick Hunter?"  
"Yep." the woman smiled. "The name's Mary, ex-pirate."  
"Pirate?" X asked in confusion.  
"Yeah, I was a member of the Cyber Pirates, until Sigma's out-raise." Mary said. "So are you a newbie? I've never seen you before."  
"I'm X." X replied. "I just started 6 months ago.... But, I've never seen you."  
"Oh that's because I was out on another mission, pretty far from here." Mary explained. "Well are you on the way back to the base?"  
X nodded. "Yeah, I am."

After a few hours walking on foot, X & Mary reached the base.  
"Yo guys! I'm back!" Mary cried, placing her sickle on her shoulder.  
"Mary!" Iris cried. "I can't believe it!"  
"You're back!" Alia cried.  
"It's been a while." Dr. Cain said.  
"Well I won the bet." Douglas chuckled. "Double said you'd get your butt blown up."  
"I did not!" Double protested.  
Mary chuckled. "Oh come on guys! You know me, I always get my booty!"  
"Yes, we all know that well..." Dr. Cain chuckled.  
"So I ran into this rookie out on the field." Mary said, pointing to X. "Since when does Zero let newbies out on their own? What, she busy with something else? Where is she anyway?"  
The room fell silent.  
X didn't say a word, he starred at the floor.  
"..... Did I.... Say something wrong?" Mary asked, blinking in confusion.  
"... Mary..." Dr. Cain placed a hand on her shoulder. "... Zero's dead....."  
"What...?" a look of horror came across Mary's face. "No way, Zero can't be dead! Are you sure it's not a mistake like last time?"  
"No, it's true...." Iris sighed.  
"Haven't you heard? Sigma was destroyed." Alia said.  
"Zero died in the battle." Douglas added.  
Mary fell to the floor, she seemed speechless.  
"I'm sorry you had to find out this way, Mary." Dr. Cain said. "But we couldn't reach you, we're still trying to find Middy too."  
Mary held her head. ".... This can't be happening.... Then, who's leading the hunters?"  
"We've handed over the position to her brother." Dr. Cain explained.  
"Brother?" Mary shot up. "You mean she finally found him? Where is he?"  
"Behind you...." Dr. Cain pointed to X.  
"HIM?!?" Mary cried. "Oh god, you've gotta be kidding me!"  
"Don't take him likely, he is the one that defeated Sigma." Dr. Cain said. "He's still not all used to our life now, but give him time. Even Zero wasn't great at first."  
"Yeah, considering she was just an Operator at the time I met her...." Mary sighed. ".... So you guys are still fighting the war? .... Finishing where she left off?"  
X nodded. "I swore that I'd avenge Zero... And I won't stop until all of Sigma's followers are destroyed."  
"Then I'm in with you." Mary smirked.

Hours passed, as X was sitting in what was Zero's chamber. He was looking over the few photos she had saved from Dr. Light's lab, other notes and things in there.  
Mary stepped in. "... Can I show you something?" she asked.  
X shrugged. "What?"  
Mary pulled out Zero's Saber, and twisted the bottom of the handle. She then pushed in the red point, and it poped open.  
"Didn't know it could do that...." X said, in surprise.  
The blonde Reploid smirked. "Zero had a secret compartment in here, with something she held very dear...." she took something out of it, and handed it to X. "She said it was the very thing that kept her going...."  
The blue Reploid took it, it was a picture.... Of an old man, with two robots, one boy and one girl, and a robotic dog. It was Dr. Light, Rock, Roll & Rush. A tear fell down his eye from seeing this.  
".... You guys were really close, weren't you?" Mary asked.  
X nodded. "... It's still so hard to believe she's really gone...."  
"I'm just glad she got to see you, because really I think it was the only reason she kept strong.... The fact that she wanted to find you, she said she didn't want you to come into here like she did, alone....." Mary sat down next to him. "..... Zero was the reason I joined the hunters. You see, when she first became a hunter, she came after me, along with all the other Maverick Hunters."  
"Can I ask, what are Cyber Pirates?" X asked.  
"You don't know....?" Mary chuckled. "Oh yeah, you've been in a capsule for 100 years, right? Well let me see... Well, Cyber Pirates still data, resources, powerful Reploids, and other items and sell them to the highest bidder. We're hired on jobs and other stuff, but mostly work for ourselves. This was before there were major Maverick outbreaks, so we were somewhat considered Mavericks."  
"You were Mavericks?" X asked, surprised.  
"Yeah but not the same, some of us did kill and hurt humans." Mary said. "But not all of us, my crew would never harm humans, and we only fought to protect ourselves. But most of us were outcasts, misjudged Reploids and others that our human creators turned on us. I lead a group of misjudged Reploids, many of them ex-hunters that were wrongfully accused of being Maverick."  
"That happened a lot?" X asked. "I mean, misjudged Mavericks?"  
Mary nodded. "Your sister brought up that subject many times to Sigma, but he would never listen to her.... In fact I wonder if he was starting to become Maverick back then....." she paused for a moment. "Anyway, Zero saved my life, when I was caught and was going to be retired as a Maverick.... She saved me and set me free. After Sigma became Maverick, I decided to join, and I became her second in command."  
X couldn't believe this, there were still many things he didn't know about what his sister had been through, about this new part of her life. He wondered if he would ever find out.....


	9. Episode 9: Mermaid Mary

"So this was the place Dr. Cain heard about?" Mary asked, as she and X arrived at the abandoned Reploid Factory.  
"Yeah, I was heading this way until I was attacked." X answered, climbing off the Ride Chaser they rode there.  
"Well, I doubt we're going to really find anything...." Mary said, but lost her footing as the floor under her collapsed.  
"Mary!" X jumped down after her, with a splash. They landed in water, a deep dark lake.  
"Mary where are you?" the blue Reploid called out, he couldn't see much in this dark sea.  
"I'm right here kiddo." said a Reploid in front of him, but it was a mermaid, or at least looked like one. She had Mary's hair, a green strap-plate over her chest, green wristbands, but where her legs were was a long, green mermaid tail. Her ears had transformed into fins.  
X just stayed in place, his eyes widened and unable to speak, his mouth gaping open.  
"HEY KIDDO!" Mary whapped X upside the head with her tail. "WAKE UP!"  
X finally snapped to. "...... You're a mermaid?"  
Mary blinked. "Oh yeah..... Well see I'm a merging Reploid, I transform into a merbot when I'm under water... It allows me to swim much better than any normal Reploid....."  
X narrowed his eyes. "And you were going to tell me this when....?"  
"I forgot, so sue me." the mermaid stuck her tongue out, and turned to swim off, but she whacked X in the head with her tail again as she swam off.  
The Maverick Hunter sighed, rubbing his head. "...... This is going to be a LONG day....."  
They were swimming in the water for quite a long time, then X saw a flashing light.  
"What's down there?" he asked.  
"Well let's check it out." Mary snatched his arm and pulled him down.  
"HEY!!!" X cried. "Warn me when you're going to do that!!!!"  
"No time rookie, let's move." Mary said, as they arrived in front of a capsule!  
This one looked just like the one before, as it flashed a hologram of Dr. Light appeared.  
"Who's the old man?" Mary asked.  
"SHHH!!" X snapped. "It's another one of Dr. Light's Capsules....."  
"Mega Man X, enter the capsule. This enhancement will modify your main drive unit. With it you will be able to dash while in mid-air. Use it wisely, Mega Man X." the hologram said, as it dissipated.  
X stepped into the capsule, as a series of flashes surrounded his body. Mary covered her face with her tail.  
As the blue Reploid stepped out, he looked at his legs. They were changed into white, like how his armor was, and enhanced.  
"Let's try it out!" he cried, leaping into the air, dashing quickly to a ledge, then kicked back to Mary. "Great! This will help since my armor's been pretty beaten up...."  
Mary just stood there blinking. "..... The ghost of an old man in a capsule gave you an upgrade?"  
"Not quite, it's a long story...." X chuckled. "But come on, let's keep going."

But X & Mary didn't know they were being watched, by 3 Shadow Figures in a control room, at an unknown location....  
In the room, a screen zoomed in on X.  
"This is their leader. His name is Mega Man X." one of the shadows said. "Those who underestimated him are now nothing but scrap."  
The other Reploid in the room shook his head. "We won't make the same mistake. He is powerful, but he is blind to what is happening around him."  
"Our Mavericks will keep him busy until we are ready." the 3rd figure said.  
"Yes. How is the plan proceeding?" the first one asked.  
"Collection is proceeding as scheduled. However, we are having problems with the control chip." one of the Maverick shadows said.  
The other one sighed. "We have little time. We must finish construction on schedule. We must hurry..."

Back in the lake, a large wheel suddenly came hurling at them.  
"Watch out!" X cried, pushing Mary to the side and firing his buster, destroying it.  
"Not bad...." grinned a Maverick that looked like an alligator.  
"Wheel Gator, let me handle this!" said a Maverick that looked like a crab.  
"And let you take all the fun Bubble Crab?" Wheel Gator asked. "No way."  
"Oh really?" Mary appeared in front of the two, whacking them both with her sickle and mermaid tail.  
"GAH! The mermaid's tough..." Bubble Crab groaned.  
"This chick is going down!" Wheel Gator cried.  
"THIS CHICK IS GOING TO TURN YOU GUYS INTO SCRAP METAL!" Mary hollered, she plunged her sickle into Wheel Gator's chest.  
X backed up from this fight, as this angry mermaid was beginning to scare him....  
"Oh you are dead lady!" Bubble Crab fired a series of bubbles at Mary.  
The mermaid snickered, as she swam around them with ease, then snatched her sickle and used it to throw Wheel Gator into the crab Maverick.  
"I'm going to teach you guys a lesson." Mary smirked, twirling her sickle.  
But then suddenly a pod shot into the air, and the 3 Reploids seemed to freeze in place. After a few moments, they started moving.... Slowly.  
X blinked. "What happened?" he looked down, and saw a snail-like Reploid huff.  
"Must I, Crystal Snail do everything?" the Maverick asked. "CRYSTAL HUNTER!"  
He fired a small blue crystal which encased Mary in crystal. His fellow Maverick's movements returned to normal.  
"About time you showed up!" Bubble Crab snapped.  
"I saved your butts, you owe me." Crystal snail huffed. "Considering you couldn't take down the little underwater girl here...."  
"Bah, we had it under control before you came." Wheel Gator roared, though he rubbed the gash in his chest from Mary's sickle.  
"Yes, you look like you were." the snail Maverick chuckled.  
"Oh shut up." wheel Gator snapped. "At least you stopped her, so let's finish her off!"  
"You forget someone!" X leapt down and fired a Charge Shot, right at Wheel Gator's injury.  
KA-BOOM! Because of the gash, it entered the inside of the Reploid, causing it to explode. X caught a piece that few at him from the gator Maverick, copying his weapon data.  
"Who is that?!?" Crystal Snail asked.  
"Un, I think that's the guy we're after." Bubble Crab asked. "It's just cutie here distracted us."  
"You morons...." Crystal Snail rolled his eyes, firing a blue crystal at X.  
X used his new boots to dash around it, and fired Wheel Gator's Weapon. "Spin Wheel!"  
A series of large wheels came crashing down, cutting through Bubble Crab as he was trying to fire bubbles to counter.  
X leapt over and copied Bubble Crab's Weapon Data before he exploded.  
"How the hell?!?" Crystal Snail cried.  
"Strike Chain!" X fired an energy chain that caught Crystal Snail, shocking him intensely.  
"GAAAAHHHH!!!!!" Crystal Snail hollered in pain.  
"Sonic Slicer!" X fired a half-moon shaped bit of energy, which sliced through the snail Maverick. He quickly copied the weapon data from him, and kicked the crystal trap around Mary, it shattered.  
Mary spun around in confusion. "What happened?!?"  
X smirked. "You owe me one."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mary is exclusive to the Rockman Manga, I wanted to add her in because she was a cool character XD


	10. Episode 10: The X-Hunters!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mary's name in the original manga was Marty, but I changed it to Mary to fit better for western audiences, had she been in the games I figured they would have done that. And in the manga she calls X 'Kiddo' all the time XD

X & Mary finally reached the end of their underwater journey, as they found a surface.  
Mary reverted back to her normal Reploid form, standing on her legs now. "There, now to find the Maverick that's running this place."  
"Am I ever going to get a 'thank you' for saving you?" X narrowed his eyes.  
"You got lucky kiddo." Mary snapped. "I'm not letting it get to your head!"  
"LUCKY?!?" X hollered. "You were trapped! You'd be dead if I didn't defeat them! AND STOP CALLING ME KIDDO!"  
"As I said, lucky. You ain't my knight in shinning armor, you know." Mary rolled her eyes. "They caught me off-guard, that's all.... And I call things as I see it, rookie."  
"Geez, can't you give me some credit?" the blue Reploid scolded. "I took down Sigma! And 8 of his best Mavericks!"  
Mary then whapped his upside the head with her sickle.  
"WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!!?" X growled.  
"Proving my point." Mary snarled. "You're such a rookie, you let a little winning streak get to your head.... There's bigger things at risk here than Hunter Rank or how good you are..."  
"What does that mean?" X asked.  
"It doesn't matter how good you are, as some Maverick one day can come by and catch you in the back." Mary snapped. "Like you did with Sigma. That wasn't skill, it was luck. Zero was really good, and she still was defeated..... With Maverick Hunters it is all luck, because everytime you go on a mission, you risk not coming back."  
X blinked, he hadn't really thought about this before. All that had been going on had been so much for him to handle, all he thought about was ending this war, as quick as possible. It didn't occur to him how he really defeated Sigma. Was it really luck? Or was it really because Sigma underestimated him? The thoughts in his head made him shudder.  
".... I guess you're right, Sigma didn't expect me so maybe I caught him off guard...." he said, rubbing his head.  
"Yeah, whatever..." Mary glared, continuing to walk.  
X huffed, crossing his arms. "Bloody pirate....." he muttered.  
A large piece of machinery suddenly came flying at X's head, he ducked just in time. "WHAT THE?!?" he looked up, and as he did Mary kicked him in the stomach.  
"What is your problem?!?" X hollered.  
"Trying to knock some sense into that thick head of yours...." the ex-pirate said, smacking his helmet.  
X held his head, growling. "Look Mary, we don't have time to be fighting each other now!"  
"You're right, I should have left you behind since you'll get in my way...." Mary shrugged.  
"I GET IN YOUR WAY?!?" X growled.  
Mary snapped to attention. "... Hey kiddo, quiet down."  
"NO!" X snarled. "I'm not going to let you boss me around!"  
"NO! I mean be quiet, I heard something!" Mary snapped.  
"SPEED BURNER!!!!" a Maverick surrounded by fire dashed right through them, hitting them both as it passed.  
Mary crashed into a wall, X landed with a thud.  
"Flame Stag....." Mary muttered, glaring at the direction the Maverick went.  
"It's been a long time, captain." Flame Stag smirked, his flames surrounding him.  
"Did I miss something here?" X asked.  
"Who's the rookie?" Flame Stag asked.  
"Not your concern...." Mary drew a sword this time. "Your fight is with me...."  
"And prove I was the better student than Marino?" Flame Stag smirked. "Hell I even kicked Spider back into line for you once captain...."  
"They were both better than you." Mary snarled. "And you betrayed me years ago, and went with Ferham."  
"Yeah well what did you expect?" Flame Stag asked. "Though now I work with the X-Hunters, since I bet Ferham's retired by now...."  
"Knowing her she's probably using a band of Mavericks to wait on her hand and foot...." Mary rolled her eyes in disgust. "Though I hadn't seen her in quite a while..."  
These names were unknown to X, as he had no idea what they were talking about.  
"X-Hunters?" Mary arched an eyebrow.  
"You'll find out soon enough, that is if you live." Flame Stag chuckled, he came at Mary with a sword of his own, which was made of flames.  
"Oh no you...." X stood up.  
"Stay back, kiddo..." Mary ordered. "He's mine!"  
"But....." the blue Reploid sighed, and nodded. He didn't know much about this Maverick, and Mary did seem to want to fight him alone.  
CLASH! CLANG! The two swords collided together, Mary jumped up on a box and leapt into a slash.  
The two Reploids seemed evenly matched in the sword fight, as if they knew each other's moves.  
Mary kicked up against the wall for a cross-slash, with cut one of the horns on Stag's head, but he returned by a slash, that cut part of her hair.  
"You're going to pay for that!!!" Mary snarled, flipping into the air, and diving down with her sword.  
Stag backflipped, and shot a series of fireballs.  
Mary smirked, as she jumped around them, and her sword reached up to his throat. "Give up and I might let you live for old time's sake...."  
".... Afraid not, captain." Flame Stag smiled, his body erupted into flames, exploding.  
"MARY!" X cried, as she was caught in the blast.  
"AHHH!!!!" Mary screamed, her body burning in the blast, X had to think fast.  
He jumped in and fired Bubble Crab's Weapon, putting out the flames as he grabbed Mary and jumped into the water.  
Pieces of Flame Stag blew into the water too, X grabbed one to copy the weapon data. Mary's body had reverted to mermaid form, and she glowed strangely.  
Mary's eyes opened weakly. ".... Un.... I didn't expect that...."  
"What just happened?" X asked.  
"Huh? Oh my auto-repair systems are linked with my mermaid form." Mary said. "Thanks for getting me into the water kiddo, they can't activate without it."  
"I'm just glad you we're too badly damaged...." X said.  
Suddenly, X heard a sound in his helmet, from the radio Dr. Cain had installed. "X! This is Iris, Dr. Cain needs you to report to his lab right away!"  
X nodded. "Roger, we're heading there now."

The 3 shadow figures in the unknown location cursed as they saw X's victory on their screen.  
"I see now why Sigma fell at the hands of Mega Man X. He is quite formidable." one said.  
"I am not sure our Mavericks can hold him long enough. We may have to intervene......" the other said.

It took a while, but X arrived at Dr. Cain's laboratory.  
Double came running up. "X! You're back safely... Whoa!!!" he tripped and fell into X, who was holding Mary.  
"Ouch! Double you're still the klutzo king!" Mary growled.  
"Sorry...." Double held his head and chuckled weakly.  
X smiled back. "Don't worry about it Double." he got up, picking Mary up.  
"I can walk." Mary protested, pushing him away.  
The blue Reploid shook his head. "You're still damaged."  
"X! Mary! What happened?" Dr. Cain stepped up to them.  
"It's nothing, what happened here Dr. Cain?" Mary asked.  
"A group of Mavericks calling themselves the X-Hunters have just contacted us...." Alia answered.  
"X-Hunters?" X turned to Mary. "Isn't that what that Maverick said he belonged to?"  
"Maverick?" Dr. Cain asked.  
"Flame Stag was there, he said he joined a group called the X-Hunters." Mary said.  
"Stag was with them?" Dr. Cain asked, surprised. "You're going to have to be careful out there if he told them anything Mary, he knew your abilities well."  
Mary nodded, holding her chin. "Yes.... Is there a message?"  
Alia nodded. "I'll play it back." she pressed a button on the computer, and the screen showed 3 figures.  
Little did X know that these were the 3 shadow figures that had been watching him.  
"Greetings. We are the X-Hunters." the lead shadow said. "I am Serges, to my right is Agile, and to my left is Violen."  
"And we have something you want..... We have all of Zero's parts." Agile said.  
"They can be yours, if you can defeat us!" Violen grinned.  
"We look forward to meeting you, X!" Serges said, as the transmission ended.  
X's eyes widened as he stood there. These 3 had his sister's parts? The first reaction X had was to go wherever these Mavericks were, and take them back.  
"Dr. Cain, I've got to get Zero's parts back at any cost!" X cried.  
Dr. Cain turned to X. "X, Zero's control chip is still stored here. I doubt it is possible to  
resurrect her without it."  
"I still can't just stand here while they have my sister's parts!" X said. "Alia, where did this transmission come from?"  
"I'll get the location in a few seconds X." Alia said.  
"Mary, perhaps I should try to repair you, you seem damaged..." Dr. Cain said.  
Mary shook her head. "No, it can wait. I'm with kiddo here, we've got to get Zero's parts back at any cost!"


	11. Episode 11: X & Mary's Team Work

Mary & X headed out to the mountains, where Alia picked up the signal.  
"What is it with these Mavericks and mountains?" X mumbled.  
"Come on rookie!" Mary snapped. "We don't have all day!"  
"I'm coming!" the blue Reploid groaned, but then lost his footing. "Yikes!" he caught another foothold before he fell.  
"Watch your step." Mary warned, climbing higher up.  
Crack! His foothold broke, and he started falling.  
Mary spun around and grabbed his right arm. "Gotcha!"  
"Whew...." X sighed, dangling in the air. "Thanks."  
Mary smirked, pulling him up. "Told you to watch your step kiddo." she pulled him up.  
A teeny tiny little moth robot flew around them.  
"What the?" X asked, on his feet now.  
Suddenly, the moth robot started drawing debris near it.  
"It's a suction!" Mary cried, trying to get away from it.  
X nodded, and grabbed Mary, using his newer armor boots to dash away, into a small cave in one of the other mountains.  
X sighed, though he didn't notice his hand wasn't quite on the most appropriate place on Mary's body.  
"GET OFF!" Mary smacked X in the head, kicking him down to the ground.  
"I JUST SAVED YOU AGAIN!" X hollered.  
"Yeah sure that's all." Mary stood, dusting herself off.  
X huffed, there was no point in arguing with this Reploid.  
"Hey what's that?" Mary pointed to a flashing light.  
The blue Reploid turned his head, and stepped forward, to find another one of the capsules.  
"Great, it's the haunted capsule again." the female Reploid rolled her eyes.  
X snapped a glare at her.  
The hologram of Dr. Light, like before appeared. "Mega Man X, enter the capsule. This enhancement will modify your body armor. With it you can absorb damage and transfer it into explosive weapon energy."  
The ancient Reploid nodded, as he entered the capsule. Flashing lights surrounded his chest armor as it changed to white, with a little red trim around it.  
"Hmm, it appears this armor is split into pieces....." he muttered to himself.  
"Can we go now?" Mary asked, tapping her foot on the ground, her arms crossed with an annoyed look on her face.  
X huffed, rolling his eyes, stepping towards her.  
BOOM! An explosion rocked the cave a bit, as something blew a hole, a Maverick stood there, or rather was hovering in the air around the hole.  
"The hell?" Mary spun around.  
"Well what do we have here?" the Maverick, which floated in smirked. Now they could see it better. This Maverick was a purple moth, the same tiny moth from before, but it was larger now.  
"Who are you?" X asked.  
"I am Morph Moth." the Maverick answered. "My boss Serges sent me to play with you."  
"Great, a welcome...." Mary grit her teeth.  
"We just want to see your boss, where is he?" X asked, his buster aimed on Morph Moth.  
"That's the point, I'm here to bring you to him." the moth Maverick shrugged. "But you ran off before I could form together."  
X lowered his buster. "... Fine then, lead the way."

It took a while for Morph Moth to lead them to a much larger cave, which Agile & Violen were waiting.  
"Where's Serges?" Morph Moth asked.  
"On other business." Agile answered. "Is this him?"  
X stepped forward. "I'm X, you guys claim to have Zero's parts...."  
"Welcome X. Your destruction is at hand!" Agile grinned. "Moth, go get Serges at the base."  
Morph Moth nodded, flying out.  
"X, I shall crush you like a tin can!" Violen cried.  
Mary took her stance. "Oh really?" she swung her sickle forward. "We'll just see about that!"  
"You take X, I'll handle the woman." Agile ordered.  
"Sure thing..." Violen grinned, his mace on a chain swinging around.  
X backflipped as Violen tried to smash him with it.  
Agile moved quickly and avoided each one of Mary's slashes. She growled, throwing her sickle to try to hit him, but missed.  
X fired a series of Spin Wheels at Violen, who broke each one with his mace, twirling it around and smacking X in the head.  
He then spun the mace over and smacked Mary in the chest, hurling her into a wall.  
Agile chuckled, dashing around the room. "Nice job Violen!"  
"Now to finish you two kids off." Violen grinned, twirling his mace around again.  
Mary this time jumped over the chain like a jump-rope. "I'm not done with you yet!" she flipped over in the air, twirling and grabbed her sickle as she landed, she flipped it upwards to cut the chain to Violen's mace.  
"HEY!" Violen screamed.  
"Thanks Mary!" X smirked, charging up his buster and firing at the Maverick.  
CRASH! Violen slammed into a wall. "It cannot be! Now the unification is in jeopardy!" he cried, his body sparking.  
"Nice work." Mary smiled. ".... Watch out for Agile!"  
But her warning came too late, as Agile had disappeared in the fight to come out in a large machine. He fired a massive laser from it, hitting both Maverick Hunters.  
"Violen, you still hanging in there?" Agile called out.  
"Barely...." Violen said.  
"Well don't worry, I'll take care of these pests..." Agile grinned, pressing a series of buttons and throwing a few switches on the machine he was in.  
X groaned and held his head. His body armor was shinning a bit.  
"What's up with your body?" the blonde Reploid next to him asked.  
"Dr. Light said something about it absorbing damage...." he muttered. "This must be it. Mary, stay behind me!"  
"Have you lost it kiddo?" Mary asked, blinking.  
"Just trust me." X winked. "And get ready, when I give you the signal, go in there and give them everything you've got."  
Mary shrugged, but grinned. "Oh you bet I will...."  
Agile got tried of waiting and fired another beam, X stood there and took it head on.  
Violen crawled over to Agile in the machine, joining him. "He's not dead yet?"  
"No, which is odd...." Agile cursed. "Let's give him another blow!" he threw a switch.  
ZAP! Another beam struck X, he shut his eyes and tried to ignore the pain. The jewel on his helmet slightly began to glow.  
Mary blinked, standing behind him. She grasp her sickle firmly and waited for her moment to strike.  
ZAP! After one more beam, X's helmet jewel shinned brightly, as he expanded his arms, dashed forward.  
The concentrated energy he absorbed released it in a massive explosion, blowing up the machine and tossing Agile & Violen to the ground.  
"I may have failed, but you will never see Zero!" Agile proclaimed.  
Violen on the other hand gulped, he knew what was coming next.  
Mary smirked, it was her turn. She leapt into action, slashing both Mavericks at once with her attacks.  
"This is impossible! The prophecy much be fulfilled!" Violen screamed.  
"NO!! This cannot be!!! Master, avenge me!" Agile hollered.  
SILCE! SLASH! BOOM! In a matter of seconds Mary had turned them into scrap, she turned to X who collapsed.  
"X!" she ran to his side.  
X opened his eyes and panted. "..... That took a lot out of me..." he chuckled weakly.  
"Yeah but we beat them." Mary smirked. "Not a bad job, you're a lot better than I thought. We make a cool team, X."  
"Wow, you didn't call me rookie or kiddo." X chuckled weakly at her.  
"Yeah, guess you're not as much of a rookie as I thought at first." Mary winked. "But don't get used to it, kiddo."  
Then X snapped to. "Zero's parts.... Are they here?"  
"I'll look for them, you need to recharge your energy." Mary said, standing up and searching around.  
The Pirate Reploid found a metal container, with bits and pieces of a red Reploid inside. "I think I found them!" she cried, running over. "But there's only a few in here...."  
"Which means Serges has the rest...." X said, standing up slowly. "Let's get these parts back to Dr. Cain. Hopefully he can start rebuilding her...."


	12. Episode 12: Magna Morph Serges, and the Final Parts!

X & Mary had arrived back at the base with the parts.  
"Well doc?" X asked, his voice full of hope.  
"I can try to reactivate Zero to help, but I need more time before I can reinstall her control chip..." Dr. Cain sighed. "But I still might need the remaining parts..."  
"Which means we've got to find Serges." Mary said.  
"X! There's a major activity in Mavericks at the grid location 24 point B." Alia said. "Iris sent Unit 12 to the sight but they were attacked."  
"Which means they need back-up." Mary said. "Ready for another round kiddo?"  
X smirked. "Sure thing, but can you please stop calling me kiddo?"  
Mary giggled, and winked. "I'll think about it."  
"Try to slow them down, X. Good luck!" Dr. Cain said.  
The two Maverick Hunters nodded.  
"I can transport you both from here." Alia said.  
"Transport?" X asked confused.  
"You mean you finally fixed the transporter?" Mary asked.  
"Yes, it took some time and Douglas' help." Dr. Cain said. "X, it was broken before you were activated. It's a device that teleports you to the location. Unfortunately it has a short range, and only certain places it will work. We can also use it to transport you back here."  
"Well that's useful." X said.  
"Yes, but it doesn't always work." the doctor sighed. "And sometimes we can't transport you back once we send you."  
"Well, at least it'll cut part of the trek there down." Mary smirked. "Let's go."  
Alia lead them over to a platform with three circles on it. X stepped onto one, Mary on another.  
"Transporting...." Alia said, typing on a computer.  
Beams of light filled where the circles were, shooting up blue light like a capsule around the Reploids. X felt like his body was being pulled apart as he disappeared.

FLASH! A beam of blue light shot down on the destination, which was part of a city road, light pole illuminated the street. On the edges of the road was just gravel, this area was near what looked like a war-zone. X's body formed out of the light in a matter of seconds, he looked around a little dazed at first.  
Mary appeared next to him. "You get used to it." she smirked.  
"Yeah, I know." the blue Reploid rubbed his head. "I've used something like it in the past, just been a while, that's all."  
"Hey Alia, transfer was successful." Mary said, then made a face. ".... No response..."  
"Why's that?" X asked. "Is something jamming it?"  
"That or the transport took too much energy off Dr. Cain's Lab." Mary explained. "After all it's not as high powered as the Maverick Hunter Base is."  
KA-BOOM! X was blasted as soon as he took a step forward. As he crashed, he jumped back up. "What the?!?"  
"Mines..." Mary growled, picking up a rock and tossing it.  
BOOM! The rock landed on the ground and exploded.  
X groaned. "Oh great, how are we supposed to see that?"  
"Well we just try to get around." Mary threw her sickle, which the blade stuck into the ground, its handle sticking up in the air.  
"....." X just stood there, blinking.  
Mary then backed up, and ran forward. She leapt into the air, grabbing the handle, as the force of her body pulled it out of its spot. But she leaned forward and landed a few feet away from where it was.  
"Nice trick." X commented, he jumped into the air, and used his dash boots to dash forward, landing next to her.  
"Show off." Mary snapped, continuing forward.  
X grinned, but looked ahead to see a cracked in the ground. Flashing lights were emitting from it.  
"Could it be?" he ran forward, and charged up his buster.  
BLAST! As his X-Buster fired, the floor broke through, and as X thought, it was a capsule.  
"Great, it's the ghost of Christmas past again...." Mary rolled her eyes.  
"Mega Man X, enter the capsule. This enhancement will modify your radar optics." the hologram of Dr. Light explained. "It uses some energy, but with it you will be able to see objects that you could not see before. Good luck, Mega Man."  
X stepped inside, as the light show surrounded him once again, his helmet changed. This time it was white, with the same red gem as before, but some green trim around it.  
"Done yet?" Mary asked, playing with her sickle.  
X leapt out of the hole and smirked. "This will come in handy." he looked at the ground ahead of them, as his optics showed a cursor move in front of him. It stopped and targeted the floor, in fact many areas of the floor lit up with targets. "And now we can locate the mines." he grinned, firing his buster at the target places.  
BOOM! BLAST! KA-BOOM! Each place X fired was in fact a mine, which exploded.  
Mary stood there, blinking in shock. "... Nice work, kiddo."  
X rolled his eyes. "Call me X, will ya?" He was beginning to feel like Zero did whenever he called her Roll instead of Zero.  
Then X's helmet picked up on something. A blast was coming after them! He grabbed Mary and backflipped into the air, nearly missing it.  
"What was that?!?" Mary cried.  
Morph Moth & another Maverick stood behind them.  
"Geez, moth...." the Maverick said. "You need to learn to aim better...." This Maverick looked like a centipede.  
"OH SHUT UP!" Morph Moth growled. "Like your mines worked so well Magna Centipede!"  
"Yeah well watch as they're attracted to me." Magna Centipede grinned.  
As if a super powered magnet turned on, Mary & X were being pulled closer to these Mavericks.  
Mary growled, throwing her sickle into the centipede body that hung upwards on Magna's back. CRASH! As it hit, they were no longer being magnetized.  
"So much for that..." Morph Moth groaned.  
"Magnet Mine!" Magna shot a mine at the Maverick Hunters.  
X pushed Mary to the side, and rolled away as the mine landed. He fired a Charge Shot which pushed the centipede Maverick back.  
"Silk Shot!" the moth Maverick shot a few clumps of debris.  
Mary drew her sword this time and slashed through them.  
"Speed Burner!" X cried, firing Flame Stag's weapon, which was a series of fireballs.  
Morph Moth was hit hard, and caught on fire! "AAAIIIIEEEE!!!!!"  
X dashed forward and grabbed the burning Maverick's wings, copying his power.  
"Magnet Mine!" Magna Centipede had gotten back up and fired.  
But X dashed out of the way and Morph Moth, who was still burning in flames, was hit instead!  
KA-BOOM! The combination of fire and mines exploded, destroying the Maverick.  
"Thanks a lot." X grinned, flipping over and grabbing Magna's arm, copying his weapon as well.  
Mary snatched her sickle, and drove it into the Maverick's chest, as X fired a Charge Shot to finish him off. BOOM!  
Pieces of the defeated Mavericks covered the ground, as the hunters smiled in triumph.  
Mary nudged X. "You're pretty good kiddo."  
"Are you ever going to stop calling me that?" X chuckled weakly.  
"Hmm... Nope." Mary laughed.  
"Oh well." X sighed, looking around. But then his helmet picked up something. "There's someone else here....." he spun around. "Look out Mary!!!"  
But his warning came too late, as a sword was driven right through the back of Mary's shoulder.  
"GAAAHHH!!!!" she hollered in pain, falling over.  
Behind her, the attacker, was a purple Maverick holding a sword. X knew who it was from the X-Hunter's transmission. "Serges!"  
"Hmmm, I'm actually impressed you defeated Agile & Violen...." Serges said, pulling his sword out of Mary's shoulder. "But you have merely delayed, the inevitable." he placed down next to him a container, which looked like the remains of Zero's parts.  
"Get away from her!!!!" X hollered, firing a series of Charge Shots at him.  
Serges grinned, as each shot he slashed into nothing with his sword. "You can't beat me that easy...." he chuckled, holding his sword firmly. "If you want these parts you'll have to destroy me."  
"Spin Wheel!" X cried, firing a series of wheels at him.  
Serges just bashed them with his sword like a bat, sending them flying towards a few of the light poles. CRASH! Some of the poles fell down after X, he dashed around them.  
Serges dashed forward, grinning, as he slashed his sword across X's chest, cracking parts of his armor. He then kicked the Maverick Hunter back.  
Mary tried to get up, and jumped at Serges. He only grinned and saw her coming, he turned around quickly and punched her hard in the stomach, and kicked her back to the ground. He took his sword and stabbed her in the stomach, twisting it until she could no longer move her legs. He pulled it out and was ready to stab her again.  
X grew furious, and leapt back to his feet. "Chameleon Sting!" he fired at Serges, who only destroyed the shot with his sword.  
"Damn, everything I shoot at him he slashes to pieces with that sword...." X cursed in his mind.  
Serges then dashed back into him, with each slash X fired a Charge Shot into his face. Both Reploids taking major damage.  
"X!" Mary cried, still injured and couldn't move her legs at all.  
Serges grabbed X by the throat. "You can't beat me.... The master will be pleased when I return with your parts......"  
"We'll see about that..." X grinned, all the damage he had taken was absorbing in his armor. It had just reached its peak, and he unleashed it. "G-CRUSH!!!!"  
But they were both caught in the blast, as Serges had a firm grip on X. KA-BOOM!!! Both Reploids were through in opposite directions, damaged heavily by the blast.  
Serges landed near Mary, but he stood up.  
X's body was sparking badly now, he couldn't move and was paralyzed, as his circuits seemed to be over-loading.  
"Now to finish you...." Serges grinned, flipping his sword as he was ready to strike, though he could barely move himself, sparks flying off his robotic body.  
"NO!!!" Mary hollered, and with the last of her strength threw her sickle like a boomerang, it smacked Serges, as he fell down close to her. But her sickle didn't stop, it flew around to a few of the poles near them. SLICE! A few of the poles cut enough, that they started falling, towards them!  
"Mary! Get out of there!!!!" X cried, but he was still unable to move.  
Serges himself couldn't move either. "What?! How could they have overloaded my circuits?!! Arrrggghhh..." he hollered, his fight with X had taken a toll finally.  
Mary grabbed Serges by the neck and held him down, she knew she didn't have time or the ability to run, her body sparking still from Serges' attack. "..... I'm sorry X, looks like it's up to you.... Tell Zero I'm sorry I couldn't keep my promise......"  
As soon as she said that, the poles came crashing down on them, stabbing them horribly in the chest, legs and one went through Serges' head. Mary screamed horribly as the poles ripped through her body. The last few that fell crushed them, their body's sparks ignited into an explosion.  
X's eyes widened, as he screamed. "MARY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"


	13. Episode 13: Ideals of Mavericks? The X-Hunter's Base!

X wallowed in tears as he still couldn't move, but only watch the debris in front of him burn. "First Roll, now Mary...." he sobbed. "I failed... I can't protect anyone...."  
VROOOM...... The sound of a Ride Chaser came from behind X. It was one, as a Reploid stepped off it. This Reploid had a helmet with a visor over his eyes.  
"....." the Reploid stepped over to X. ".... It's X, isn't it?"  
The fallen Maverick Hunter looked up. ".... Who are you?"  
"I'm not surprised you don't remember me." the Reploid said. "I'm Mac, Unit 12's leader. We met a few months ago after Zero was destroyed."  
X closed his eyes in thought. "Oh yeah.... Sorry."  
"What happened here?" Mac asked, looking at the destruction.  
"The X-Hunter Serges...." X sobbed. "He attacked..... Mary defeated him but she....."  
Mac frowned. ".... I see. I'll get you back to the base." he said, lifting X onto the Ride Chaser. "Iris, can you hear me?" he pressed a button on his helmet. "I need a repair crew for point 24 B..... About 9 casualties in total.... Oh and tell Dr. Cain to get to the base right away, X is injured and will need repairs..... And we lost Mary...."  
X looked up. "9?"  
Mac nodded. "... Yes, these two and my Unit were all killed."  
".... I'm sorry..." X said.  
Mac shook his head. "They all died fighting, like all us Maverick Hunters. I'd rather they went down in the battle than have turned Maverick.... Which many have..."  
X sighed, all this fighting and the battles almost seemed pointless to him. How many were going to have to die for peace? How long will this war go on? .... These questions troubled him horribly.

It took a little while for Mac to drive back to the base.  
"X! Are you alright?!?" Iris was standing in the dock as they arrived.  
X didn't answered, his eyes seemed lost in sorrow.  
Dr. Cain came over with Douglas. "Take him to the repair center."  
Douglas nodded, with the help of Double lifted X off the Ride Chaser and into another room.  
X was placed inside some sort of capsule, which Douglas flipped a few switches.  
".... X, are you okay?" Double asked.  
But X didn't answer, he seemed to still be in shock over Mary's death.  
"Leave him be." Douglas said.  
The capsule lit up, and as it did some of X's energies seem to come back to him.  
"I can't believe Mary's gone...." Iris sobbed.  
"Me neither..." Dr. Cain sighed.  
"Oh this container was on the road near X." Mac handed Serges' container to the doctor.  
"These look like the missing parts!" Dr. Cain cried. "Mac, get Alia at my lab right away! Bring her here so we can finish the repairs!"  
Mac nodded. "Sure thing doc!" he jumped on his Ride Chaser and left.  
Dr. Cain entered the room with the capsule, looking over the damaged Reploid. "X, don't blame yourself for what happened."  
X looked at Cain sadly. ".... Why shouldn't I? ...... Again, I wasn't strong enough..... Just like Roll, she died saving me....."  
Dr. Cain sighed, he didn't have an answer. ".... Rest up for now...." was all he said, getting his tools ready to make the repairs.

After a few hours, X was fully repaired, the capsule was opened up as the blue Reploid stepped out. His armor was turned off for now, as Dr. Cain had to revert him to normal form for the repairs.  
Iris stepped into the room. "Oh X, I thought you were still resting."  
X shook his head. ".... I can't help but wonder about something Mary said....."  
"What is it?" the Operator tilted her head.  
"She said to tell Zero sorry that she couldn't keep her promise...." X said. "..... Do you know what she meant by that?"  
Iris held her head in thought. ".... Hmm, can't say that I do......"  
X sighed. "It's just it seems like my sister's had a whole other life, and I don't know anything much about it..."  
"No one expects you to take her place fully, X." Iris said, placing a hand on his shoulder. ".... It's just we all miss her... She held this place together, and became a part of our lives."  
"Yeah, I've heard a lot about that." X said. "It's just..... I couldn't even protect Mary, once again someone died trying to save me...."  
"You can't blame yourself for what happened." Iris said sadly. "Mary died doing what she thought was right, the same with Zero. Unfortunately that's the fate of many Maverick Hunters....."  
X looked at her, a hurtful look in his eyes. ".... Are you telling me Zero's gone through this... For years herself?"  
The Operator nodded weakly. "Yes, we've all lost many friends to the battles.... One of the Operators before me, Teal, fell to a Maverick attack."  
"Mac said something about most Maverick Hunters either die or turn Maverick.... Is that true?" the blue Reploid asked.  
Iris let out a sigh. "Yes, it is.... Many of our friends have turned Maverick in the past.... And many hunters have betrayed us... Most were infected, or short circuits in the electronic brain." she explained. "No one really knows the true reason they fully go Maverick, as there are many degrees of it."  
"What do you mean?" X asked.  
"Well see some end up mindless and just destroy everything in their path." Iris pointed out. "Some just follow Sigma, and others know what they're doing and are full aware and choose to turn Maverick."  
".... In other words, not all are infected by the virus?" the blue Reploid questioned.  
Iris nodded. "Correct. And some just believe in..... The Utopia theory...."  
X blinked. ",... The what?"  
".... It's a myth, but some Reploids believe in this...." Iris said, though something in her voice, and even her eyes revealed that she might believe in this 'myth' herself. "... It's a world where only Reploids exist, no more fighting, no more struggles or war, just peace.... A fantasy world, really..."  
"Not really, sounds more like a sick twisted world..." X said in disgust. "Reploids cannot dominate over the humans, we should try to work together and live in peace. Not rule over them like they're inferior....."  
Iris shivered at his comment, nodding weakly. ".... Yes, you're right...."  
"Can I ask what made you join the Hunters?" X asked.  
"Zero saved my life from a Maverick attack." Iris explained. "She was actually an Operator at the time, and I was chosen to take her place as one. Though my brother was dead-set against it, until one time she cleared him of Maverick charges."  
"I noticed everyone here has some story connected to Roll...." X muttered.  
"Both Alia & Douglas were saved by her too, they also joined us for that reason." Iris explained. "Where as Double was created by Dr. Cain himself."  
X closed his eyes in thought. In a way he wish he'd had been there during all this, or even that Zero was here now to try to explain it all better to him.  
Dr. Cain ran into the room. "X! I've located the X-Hunters base! It's at grid location 00.  
That's right at the North Pole!"  
X snapped to attention. "I'm on my way! It's time to find out who this 'master' really is...."  
"It will take some more time to reactivate Zero..." Dr. Cain said. "But we have a better chance now with the remaining parts..... I didn't finish because we had to repair you first."  
"I'll slow them down then." X said. "Don't worry, this time I won't fail!"

X was transported out in the snow. The white flakes covered the sky as his boots left tracks in the snow. He stepped towards a large base in front of him. ".... Here goes..."  
As he dashed inside, a series of small Mavericks did try to stop him, but X blasted each one, dashing around the area, nothing would stop him now.  
RRRRRUUUUMMMMBLE..... The walls around him started moving in!  
"I better move fast or I'll become a pancake!"  
X dashed to the wall, kicking it to propel himself to the other one, continuing this motion, he scaled up to the top, just before the two walls came together.  
He sighed in relief, but knew he wasn't out of danger just yet.  
A few bat-like robots flew down to attack him. X shot each one down easily, but one of his shoots kept going and blew a hole in the ceiling.  
"That's odd...." X said, stepping over to look up, seeing a series of flashes up there.  
Curious, he fired a charged Shotgun Ice that created a small platform for him to stand on. He then used the Strike Chain to grab at the opening of the hole, pulling himself up there.  
As X flipped up into the passage, he noticed a capsule right in front of him.  
As always, the hologram of Dr. Light appeared with a message. "Mega Man X, enter the capsule. This enhancement will modify your X-Buster. With it you will be able to charge energy in both arms at once. This enables you to do a Double-Shot or to charge any weapon!"  
X stepped into the capsule, as the electric shock zapped his body with the enhancement part. The final part for this armor. Now that it was complete, he was hoping it would be the edge he'd need against the leader of these X-Hunters.  
BLAST! X shot a hole further into the base, landing back on the ground floor. His eyes scrolled the room, but oddly, it was quiet. "..... No Mavericks?"  
But then, a familiar voice echoed in the room. "It has been a while, Mega Man X....."  
X's eyes widened, as his knees buckled. "What?! Sigma!!"  
Sigma chuckled. "It seems that the X-Hunters have failed. But don't worry, I have arranged  
for some new toys for you to play with..."  
x's helmet set off a suddenly warning signal. the room he was in was about to explode!!!  
"Alia! Teleport me out fast!!!" X hollered. "I don't care where, but out of this room, it's about to explode!"  
"Roger! I'll transport you to the Central Computer." Alia said over the radio.  
X nodded, and as he warped out, the room in fact did explode. KA-BOOM!

ZOOM! X appeared in a different area inside the base, once he did another some group of Mavericks tried to rush him. BOOM! With only one Charge Shot, X destroyed them all.  
".... Wow..." he blinked, staring in awe at his new buster.  
"Heh, I see you have some new toys yourself, X...." a voice loomed in the shadows.  
"Sigma..." X grit his teeth.  
Sigma stepped out into the light. The jewel on his forehead was gone now, replaced by his Maverick Symbol. On his hands, were long, white claws. His red cape covered most of his body, but was torn a little.  
But, to X's shock, another Reploid, clad in black armor, and stood close to Sigma.  
"Look who I found wandering around X!" Sigma grinned.  
X couldn't speak from the shock, it was Zero! .... But there was something different about her. She did not speak, and her eyes were green, along with her now black armor, her hair also was a lighter blonde than normal.  
"My friend here has a small problem with you." Sigma chuckled. "It seems that you let her die and she's not too happy about that! Now I think it is time she repays the favor!"


	14. Episode 14: The Return of Zero!

BLAST! Zero shot a series of blasts at X, who dodged each one.  
"Roll! What are you doing?!?" X cried.  
But Zero did not answer, instead drew her Z-Saber, which now had a violet color to the blade.  
SLASH! She slashed at X furiously, who could only barely dodge.  
X then looked directly at this Reploid. ".... You're not Zero, are you? ...." he merely said.  
The black Reploid gave no answer, still slashing at him.  
"Rolling Shield!" X fired a series of the rolling energy shots, followed by a few bubbles from Bubble Crab's Weapon.  
Zero slashed each one, with ease.  
"Got ya!" X grinned, he had used them as a distraction, and fired a Charge Shot.  
SMASH! Zero was blasted backwards, crashing into a wall.  
"Get up!" Sigma snarled. "And get him!"  
Zero nodded to Sigma, charging once more at the blue Reploid.  
"Speed Burner!" X charged up this weapon, and erupted into a fireball! He charged into Zero, and Sigma crashing through them both. As he came to a screeching halt, the flames disappeared.  
Zero got back up and fired a few buster shots again, as she was too far to use the saber.  
"Silk Shot!" X fired a few bits of debris at the black Reploid, knocking her down.  
He then turned his buster to the one behind all this. ".... Sigma, this time I'll make sure I destroy you!!!"  
"Is that a promise?" Sigma chuckled.  
X charged up his buster, ready to strike, but Zero blasted him from behind.  
"ARRRGGGHHH!!!" X howled in pain, he crashed into a wall.  
"Now hurry up and finish him." Sigma ordered.  
The black Zero nodded, stepping forward with her saber.  
But a massive blast blew into the room, hitting the black Reploid from behind, it blew into pieces before X's eyes.  
"What....? Who could have...?" Sigma asked, unable to see the attacker in the smoke from the blast.  
"Sigma, you should have studied the blueprints closer! There is only one Zero!" a very familiar voice called out from the smoke.  
X's eyes filled with tears, of joy that is.... He knew that voice, the one he was longing for. "ROLL!!!!"  
And it was her, the real Zero standing before him. She stood there with her long, blonde hair flowing out the back of her helmet. Her armor, its classic red look, had now straps on her shoulders, her armor looking more powerful than before, apparently Dr. Cain made a few modifications on her. She seemed taller, a little more built up than before. Instead of a white ring around her neck, there was a yellow one now. There was also yellow rings on her boots too. Her waist was now grey, without the grid in the middle. Instead, the yellow grid was part of a tiny box-like part on her chest that stuck out a little. There was more to the white plate on her back that carried her Z-Saber, which she drew out as the blade shinned a bright blue.  
Sigma growled. "Wait, Zero! I know your secret! You were destined to follow me!"  
The red Reploid shook her head. "Maybe so, but I still don't like you!"  
Sigma roared, as he left the room in a hurry. "Fine. If you will not follow me, then I'll watch you die once again!"  
"Zero!" X cried, standing up.  
Zero smirked, hearing her brother call her by her Maverick Hunter name for a change. "Sorry to keep you waiting, bro. The greetings will have to wait."  
X nodded. "Roll, there's something you need to know...." he frowned.  
Zero stepped up and placed her hand on his shoulder. ".... Dr. Cain told me about Mary.... Sorry to cause you so much trouble, but X, you need to go after Sigma! I'll try and destroy the main computer while you do!"  
X nodded, he knew his sister was right. They could discuss things later, right now they couldn't let Sigma get away. "Take care of yourself, Zero. I don't have time to put you back together again!" he joked.  
Zero smirked. "I'll be ok. Get going, X!"

X nodded, dashing ahead after Sigma. His power was charged up from the battle with the black Zero. "G-Crush!" he unleashed the energy, blowing a large hole in the floor beneath him. As X fell down to the basement of the X-Hunter Base, he kicked the walls on the way down to soften his landing. Once he reached the ground, he faced his enemy before him.  
"You are merely a bothersome insect, Mega Man X! It is about time that I crush you beneath my heel!" Sigma roared, casting his cape to the side.  
X stepped back, as Sigma charged in with its massive claws, slashing them in a furious motion.  
"Guarding!" X had charged up the Rolling Shield to create a barrier right before the slashes made contact.  
"Sonic Slicer!" X fired the half-moon shape energy right at Sigma's face, followed by a clump of debris. "Silk Shot!"  
The energy moon beam smacked Sigma back, but he slashed the debris before it hit him. "You'll have to do better than that!" he suddenly flipped into the air, and slashed X's back several times.  
X howled in pain, but charged up the Speed Burner, his body bursting into a fireball as he collided into the Sigma.  
Sigma roared in pain, but used his long claws to grab the fireball incased X, and hurl him into a wall.  
Sigma then dashed over to the opposite wall, kicking against it to propel himself into the air, diving his sword at X.  
"Homing Torpedo!!!" X cried, charging up the weapon, shooting out a series of the missiles that bombarded Sigma until he crashed.  
"Magnet Mine!" X fired his next weapon, which was a mine that latched onto the Maverick's body.  
Sigma hadn't noticed the mine and dashed up the walls quickly, each time he dashed off one to the other, he swooped down and slashed at X with his large claws.  
"Gaaahh!!!" X hollered, charging up a weapon.  
"It's no use X!" Sigma grinned, knowing he was moving too fast for the hunter.  
"Electric Spark!!!!" X unleashed the weapon he was charging, it shot two vertical streams of energy that ran up the walls, one did hit Sigma, zapping him, and just as it did the mine exploded.  
"ARGGGHH!!!!" Sigma roared, falling back down to the ground.  
X now charged his buster and fired, but he missed. Sigma had jumped back up, returning to his quick movements.  
"Damn, I was hoping that would slow him down...." X muttered.  
But Sigma charged in front of him, slashing with his claws furious, as he leapt back to get ready for another strike.  
".... I've got to find some why to stall him long enough......" the Maverick Hunter thought to himself, but then he got an idea. "That's it!!!"  
Sigma dashed around the room, he was about to attack again.  
"Crystal Hunter!" X charged up the weapon and shot a pod into the air.  
Sigma's movements suddenly stopped, as if he was standing still. But he was moving, very slowly.  
"Here goes...." the Maverick Hunter stood, his armor fully charged from the attacks, unleashing the energy. "G-CRUSH!!!!"  
KA-BOOM! RRRRUUUMMMBBBLLLEEE.... The area shook violently as the G-Crush seemed to had destroyed Sigma's body. X fell to the ground exhausted, having using the G-Crush twice, his systems were on the brink of over-loading.  
"It's not over yet....." Sigma's voice echoed in the room.  
X snapped to attention, but the Maverick Leader was no where to be found. "Where are you?!?"  
"Right here."  
What looked like an out-line of Sigma's head, about five times its normal size, floated in front of X.  
"...... A.... A viral form?!!?" the hunter cried, a bit in shock.  
"That's right X, my true form is that of a virus!" Sigma roared in laughter. "You can never destroy me fully! I will infect you and take you down once and for all!"  
X tried to stand, his energy was too far gone. How could he still fight? He gulped, and fired a quick Buster Shot.  
But the shot just passed right through the virus.  
"But how...?" X asked.  
"I have no psychical form now, X." Sigma chuckled. "You can't just destroy me!"  
A shockwave of energy emitted from the virus head, the force of it sent X flying into a wall, as he crashed his armor cracked quite a bit, forcing him to revert back to his normal form.  
The blue Reploid struggled to get up off the floor, but he felt like he had no energy left.  
"Time to end this." Sigma grinned.  
"I don't think so!" a familiar voice cried.  
SLASH! A powerful charge of energy, in the shape of a blade came out of nowhere, hitting the virus hard. This for some reason effected him very badly, as he howled in pain.  
"R-Roll..." X said, as the attacking Reploid landed next to him.  
"X, you better take this." Zero bent down and handed her brother a small blue tank, as she connected it to his buster. "It's a Sub Tank to refill your energy." she pressed a button on the device, and a meter on it slowly went down, as it did, X seemed to be regaining strength.  
Zero then stood, her saber drawn as she turned to her brother. "X, to damage a viral form you need more an energy-base weapon that can drain his energy, otherwise the weapon can never make contact."  
X nodded, and seemed to get an idea. "Got it! Strike Chain!" he hurled the energy-based chain at the massive virus head, which it latched on!  
"Perfect!" Zero smirked, and leapt into the air, slashing right at the core of Sigma's viral head. She slashed the red core in half, it exploded.  
"Mega Man X, I have lost to you again...." Sigma roared "Each defeat only makes me stronger and serves to bring you closer to your ultimate doom! But, something is not right. I..... Don't quite understand....... Why did Zero... She is..... Last.... Of the doctor's creations....... Arrrrrggggghhhhh................"  
The viral form of Sigma sparked, as it disappeared in an explosion.  
"We better get out of here!" X cried, he warped out, onto a cliff. Zero appeared next to him. He smiled, and all he could do was hug his sister tightly, as finally they were reunited. The X-Hunter base was destroyed, the area around it melting slowly as the remains of the base fell into the sea.

Joined by his sister Zero, MegaMan X gazed out over the sea. Sigma has once again been destroyed, but X wondered if the fighting will truly end. Was Dr. Light's dream of a world in which Reploids and humans lived together in peace merely a dream? The price of peace is often high, X thinks to himself. Who or what must be sacrificed for it to become reality? And when the time comes, will he be able to do it? The future holds the answers....


	15. Episode 15: Enter Middy, Computer Expert

Three weeks had passed since the attack of the X-Hunters. Since then Zero took back over at the commanding leader of the Maverick Hunters, with X now as the second in command. Zero, still in charge of her solo command unit, Unit Zero, still lead most battles. Though she appointed X now as the leader of Unit 17, Sigma's old Maverick Unit.

"Roll, can I ask you something?" Megaman X asked as the two hunters headed back to the Maverick Hunter Headquaters.  
"And here I thought you were finally going to start calling me Zero..." the red Reploid rolled her eyes. "Fine, ask away....."  
"Mary, before she died, said something about to tell you that she was sorry she couldn't keep her promise..." X said, his eyes seem in pain from the recalling of the fellow Hunter's death, even though it had been a few weeks since then, it still had bothered him. He hadn't brought up the subject at all until now.  
"..." Zero crossed her arms in thought, before speaking. "... Back when Mary decided to join and help me out, she promised to help bring down Sigma togehter with me."  
X's eyes didn't leave the floor, he sighed. "... And it's my fault she's dead....."  
His sister extended an arm on his shoulder. "No X, it's not your fault... Maybe if I had been more careful when Vile attacked us, you wouldn't have had to go searching for my parts, nor had to deal with the burden of taking my place for these past 6 months."  
X didn't speak, nor did he raise his head from its lowered position.  
Zero looked at her brother with sympathy. "Maybe you should take a break, I mean after all I'm back now. I can handle things for a while...."  
X finally raised his head and shook it. "No, we're in this together Roll."  
Zero smirked for a moment. "Well at least one thing never changed." she crossed arms with him. "But once in a while, can you PLEASE call me Zero?"  
X chuckled. "I'll think about it." he winked.  
A flash suddenly blinded both Reploids, though it only lasted a moment, they looked around in confusion.  
"What was that?" X asked.  
"I don't know...." Zero said, she continued walking.  
They stopped when they noticed where they were. It was the old city road, where X first encountered Vile for the first time.  
"This place is familiar...." X thought out loud.  
Zero blinked. "That's odd, how did we end up here?"  
But then a sight appeared in front of them. It was a purple Maverick inside a large blue armor.  
"Vile!!!!" X cried, his eyes widened. "Why are you.... It can't be. I crushed you!"  
Vile did not speak at first, his red 'eye' only merely glowed.  
Zero drew her Z-Saber. ".... Was he rebuilt like me?"  
".... Die! X!" Vile finally spoke, his Ride Armor charged forward at the hunters.  
The leader of the Maverick Hunters wasted no time, as she dashed forward slicing the Ride Armor middle body in half. It seemed to take no effort to destroy it, as Vile exited the broken armor to fire his cannon, which hit X badly.  
"Second Armor on!" X cried, turning on his second armor from Dr. Light. "G-Crush!" he unleashed the energy absorbed from the attack, which destroyed the purple Maverick in one blast.  
BOOM!!! Vile and the Ride Armor were gone.... But there wasn't even any wreckage.....  
"That couldn't have been Vile..." the red Reploid said, putting her weapon away.  
Her brother nodded, turning off his armor. "Then who or what was that?"  
FLASH! A blinding light surrounded both of them, as before they knew it, they were back in Dr. Cain's Laboratory!  
"Whoa....." X cried, trying to focus.  
".... Unnn, Alia did you transport us?" Zero asked.  
The blonde Operator shook her head. "Thank goodness you both are safe!"  
"X, Zero. Are you ok?" Dr. Cain asked.  
"Mind explaining what's going on here?" Zero asked, folding her arms.  
"Dr. Cain you must tell me! Tell me what's going on!" X cried. "Why was Vile there?!?"  
The doctor exhaled before speaking. "X, now we see terrible confusion all over the world." he shuddered. "Someone broke into the Mother Computer system of the Hunter Base and set its data to sabotage the world order."  
X's eyes widened. "Who is doing such a thing!? I won't allow anyone to disturb the peace we have tried hard to maintain."  
"It seems that they are... Reproducing the fighting data of the past... X, your data is contained in the past data in the Mother Computer." Dr. Cain explained.  
"How did we get in there in the first place?" Zero asked.  
"You were transported by some unknown energy." Double said.  
"And the one who brought you back from the data world is..." Dr. Cain stepped to the side.  
There stood a small, green Reploid. This Reploid looked a lot like a kid, and was about half the size of X. He had a blue gem on his helmet.  
Zero's face light up at this Reploid, she obviously knew him. "Middy!!!"  
"It's good to be back, Captain Zero!" Middy smiled. "Sorry to worry you, I had some things to take care of."  
"So this is the one you spoke about before?" X asked, confused a bit.  
"Middy is the greatest computer genius in the world. No one can match him..... He will work with us to solve this case." Dr. Cain said.  
Middy walked up, extending his arm. "It's nice to meet you, X!"  
The blue Reploid smiled warmly, shaking his hand. "Nice to meet you, too! Let's work together to restore peace."  
Middy nodded, heading over to the computer. "X, so.... Let me explain what we should do." he started typing. "In order to put the past data back, we need to fix a data in the 'core' of the Mother Computer. This is the core of the Mother Computer."  
The screen on the computer showed a large room with a glowing sphre in it.  
"But the way to the core is protected. Unless you clear the protection, you can't enter the core. The guardians of the protection is the boss data of the past." Middy explained.  
Dr. Cain took over the explaination from here. "To break the protection, there is no other way but to go into the computer as a data form and then crush them all."  
"But we can only send one Reploid in there." Alia pointed out.  
Zero was about to step forward when X grabbed her shoulder. "I'll handle it."  
She looked at her brother worried for a moment, but saw the determination in his eyes. "Ok. I'll let you handle this. I'll stay here and clean up all the Mavericks who are committing crimes in the confusion. Don't forget that even though they are past data, they are still very strong. X, be careful!"  
X nodded. "I will."  
"Well then you better head over here." Double pointed to a capsule.  
"We will transfer your mind data into the computer." Dr. Cain explained. "By using the capsule, we can monitor how you're doing, and hopefully be able to pull you out if things get too dangerous. You'll have all your weapon and armor data transferred with you."  
"Good, because I'll need it." X said, stepping into the capsule.  
Dr. Cain & Alia hooked up the systems to his body, and the capsule.  
"Energy charge! Setup complete...." Middy said, typing on the computer as it made a humming noise. "Ready to transform! Start the installation!"  
VOOOOOMMMM.... The computer hummed as surges of electricity ran through the wires to the capsule. X felt a pulse of energy go through his body, as his systems shut down.  
"Transfer complete!" Middy cried. "It's all up to him now...."  
Zero sighed. ".... Good luck, X......."


	16. Episode 16: Road to the Mother Computer!

X appeared in a burst of light at what looked like a power plant.  
"The hell...?" the blue Reploid asked in confusion. "What is this place?"  
"X, come in." a voice echoed in his head. "This is Middy, do you read?"  
"Loud and clear." X replied.  
"Good, you transferred safely then." Middy sighed. "Ok X, these areas you will pass were the protection areas for the previous Maverick Hunters."  
"What?" X asked, blinking in surprise. "I thought you said this computer held enemy data of the past?"  
Zero's voice could be heard now. "Yes, but some of our enemies were Maverick Hunters, X. Remember the 8 Mavericks you met on the day you were revived? Each one was a Maverick Hunter."  
"Oh yeah....." the blue Reploid's mind flashed back to that day. He was surrounded by the former Maverick Hunters yet he barely made it through alive.  
"Because they were Maverick Hunters their areas that they protected were programmed into the mother computer." Middy explained. "Full plan outs, this area looks like Spark Mandrill's."  
"Meaning the electric ape will be the one I'll be facing." X grit his teeth. "Good thing I have all the weapon data still."  
"You're going to need it." Dr. Cain's voice could be heard in the background.  
The lights flickered in the area, and it suddenly got dark.  
"What just happened?" X asked.  
"I think the virtual power plant lost its power." Middy said. "X, be careful! There's a lot of dangerous levels of high electricity in there!"  
"I'll be fine." the Maverick Hunter said confidently.  
"Bro, don't get cocky." Zero snapped.  
"You're one to talk, Roll." X grinned.  
"Oh really, need I remind you of a few certain times? And it's ZERO!" she growled.  
X chuckled, until suddenly he felt a jolt of electricity hit him hard. "YEOW!"  
VOOM! A few flying Mavericks came by, as they did the area slightly lit up.  
X sat up, rubbing his helmet. "Well that will somewhat light my path..." he muttered.  
But the flying Mavericks were each trying to fly right into him!  
"Better yet...." X leapt into the air. "Speed Burner!" he charged up the weapon, turning himself into a roaring fireball that crashed through the Mavericks, he landed safely on the ground, turning to falling bits of rubble.  
The blue Reploid smirked. "That was-" he was cut off by a loud roar.  
"X! X! Die!" a giant Maverick that looked like an ape stood behind him, hurling a ball of electricity that knocked him over.  
"Spark Mandrill!" X cried. "Looks like I was right!"  
"Die!" cried the large ape as he charged with his fist.  
"Not so fast, Shotgun Ice!" X fired the ice weapon at the Maverick, he froze in place!  
Spark Mandrill couldn't move at all, frozen in his charging punch position.  
X grinned. "Charge Shot!" he fired his buster, destroying the Maverick with one hit. ".... That was too easy...." he muttered, as the real Spark Mandrill was stronger than that.  
"I'm guessing maybe the data forms aren't as powerful as the real deal?" Middy shrugged.  
"Yeah, maybe that explains it...." Zero muttered.

Unknown to the others, elsewhere the very Maverick hacking the computer was watching X's movements. It was a small, purple Reploid name Techno.  
"I didn't expect the past data could be destroyed so easily... Huh." the Maverick muttered while typing on the computer in front of him. "We would get into trouble if the computer protections are broken... We need to make a move quickly."  
"Kekeke! Take it easy! Let's relax and see his action from here." cackled a tall gray Reploid from behind.  
Techno rolled his eyes. "Geemel, you'll get hurt if you disvalue his power."  
A yellow Maverick holding a large sword stood next to the gray one. "Don't worry, I'll do it.... I'll crush him for sure..."  
Techno nodded. "OK. You go then."  
Geemel grinned. "Kekeke! Don't fail us!"  
The yellow Reploid shook his head. "Don't be stupid, Geemel. I won't." he disappeared.

"X, keep heading straight and don't look down!" Middy instructed as X was heading through the 2nd protection area.  
"How is it that there's an airport that is this high off the ground?" X groaned. "I've never been to this place!"  
"Long story X." Zero sighed. "Storm Eagle was in charge of this area."  
"Great, which means I'll have to fight him." the blue Reploid groaned. "Am I getting anywhere near-YIKES!" he suddenly lost his footing in the heavy winds trying to push him off the platforms.  
"X!" Middy cried.  
"Strike Chain!" X shot the chain around a pole, it wrapped around enough for him to use like a rope.  
"Gaaah... Armor on!" X's body lit up brightly as his white armor covered his blue body. His boots suddenly let out a burst like a rocket and he was propelled back onto the platform he was standing on.  
"That was too close." Alia sighed.  
"No kidding." X grumbled.  
"What's wrong? The famous hunter can't handle a little wind?" a voice loomed as a sword cut the chain X was using to support himself.  
"Ah!" X cried, charging up a weapons quickly. "Crystal Hunter!" he shot in into the air.  
All at once everything around him was moving slowly, which made the winds less intensive. After a few moments, X regained his footing and stood in the blocking path of a tower, so he couldn't be pushed off as his weapon's effect wore off.  
"How'd you do that?" the same voice growled.  
"Show yourself!" X demanded.  
The yellow Maverick with the large sword dropped down in front of him. "You must be X.... My name is Zain! You have no chance of beating me!"  
The Maverick Hunter rolled his eyes. "Oh like I haven't heard that before....."  
"Oh so you mock me now?!?" Zain growled, charging forward with his sword.  
X blinked, but jumped up and dashed above his head, right before he swung his sword.... And destroyed the tower with one slash!  
"That will be your head." Zain turned around as X landed.  
"Un-oh." X gulped, firing a few shot from his buster.  
Tink! The shots bounced off Zain's sword as he used it like a shield.  
"Dang it!" X hissed.  
Zain charged forward again, and this time due to the winds he was moving fast! He struck X before the Reploid could even move, causing heavy damage with a slice across his chest.  
"Aahhh!!" X tumbled to the ground.  
"Heh, you are no contest." Zain chuckled.  
"Magnet Mine!" X fired a weapon quickly, as the mine tracked its target with ease.  
"Huh?" the sword-wielding Maverick looked confused when the mine attached to his back. "What is-"  
KA-BOOM! The mine exploded, Zain hollered in pain and accidentally lost his sword, it was swept away by the wind.  
A screech was heard in the air, as a large bird Maverick flew down and crashed into both Reploids. It was the data of Storm Eagle.  
"HEY STUPID! You're supposed to attack him not me!" Zain growled.  
"OUT OF MY WAY!" Storm Eagle hissed, firing a tornado at Zain, lifting the yellow Maverick up into the air.  
X sweatdropped. "Middy, is something wrong with these data forms? He just attacked this moron who clearly in on his side!"  
"My best guess is these data forms don't have much of a mind." Middy chuckled. "All they know is to destroy whatever is in their path, or you since Spark Mandrill kept screaming about killing you."  
"Any idea who this Zain is?" X asked.  
"No clue, we're running Maverick background now." Alia said. "He's unknown to us."  
"Well he's not part of the past data, that's for sure." Dr. Cain said.  
"Yeah, I figure that part out, doc." X growled. "The past data don't talk to me, they just scream that they're gonna kill me."  
"Just watch out for any cross fire." Zero warned.  
X looked up, Zain somehow summoned his sword back to his hand and got out of the tornado, slashing right across Storm Eagle's body as it broke into pieces.  
"Damn mindless data." Zain hissed, turning to the Maverick Hunter. "Where were we?"  
"Hmmm, think about here." X changed into his second armor. "G. Crush!" he unleashed the energy stored from Zain's attack.  
"GAAAHH!!!" Zain was thrown down, his body sparking badly. "I underestimated you... You got lucky..... But next time your luck won't be able to save you...."  
"There won't be a next time!" X growled, charging up his buster.  
WHACK! A star-shaped weapon smacked X in the face, knocking him over. When he looked up, a gray Maverick was holding Zain up.  
"Kyee! X, you disgust me!" the Maverick snarled.  
"I could have handle this, you know...." Zain protested. "You didn't have to come and get me."  
"Who the hell are you?!?" X cried.  
"My name is Geemel!" the Maverick holding Zain replied. "How dare you defeat my buddy! I'll get you later! Remember!"  
In a flash of light, both Mavericks were gone.  
"What in the world just happened?!?!?" X stood there, dumbfounded.  
"Something tells me those were just the lackies...." Zero muttered. "Watch your back, X. I'm sure they'll be back."


	17. Episode 17: The Core

"X! Finally we've cleared all the protection!" Dr. Cain cried as X had finally finished off the last of the recreated Mavericks.  
X smirked. "All right! Dr. Cain... I'm going to go to the core!"  
"Good luck, X!" Alia cried.  
"X, once we trace the location of the hacker I'll head there to stop them." Zero said.  
"Once you defeat the Maverick Data in the core, tracing their location should be easy." Middy pointed out. "Transporting X to the core now..."  
X closed his eyes as his data was transported. It seemed a lot like Sigma's Fortress from the inside. "I'm guessing the Maverick Data in the core is based off the former leader of the Maverick Hunters?" he asked.  
Zero nodded. "Yeah, Sigma's main data was inside the computer. My best guess is you'll have to fight a data form of him."  
X grimaced. "Well, there's no way to avoid that now..."  
"Kee kee!!!" an annoying laugh entered the room.  
"What the?" X spun around.  
Geemel suddenly jumped in front of him. "I've been waiting for you, X. Kekeke. You seem to be having problems! I'll give you another problem to deal with!"  
"You again!" X cried.  
"I'm going to take the time to stop you here and finish you off once and for all." Geemel chuckled. "I need to repay you for what you did to Zain!"  
The blue Reploid stood completely still as Geemel rushed him, but at the last second he leapt into the air, rapidly firing his buster.  
"You'll have to do better than that!" Geemel taunted, blocking each shot with the strange star-shaped weapon in his hand.  
"Boomerang Cutter! Sonic Slicer!" X fired both weapons at once. As they were both blade type weapons, they around and surrounded Geemel as they got close.  
"Yikes!" Geemel spun around with his weapon, he was able to block both but barely.  
"Gotcha!" X smirked. "Fire wave!" he shot his buster at the ground. Right then, a wave of fire hurled towards Geemel, surrounding him.  
"YIIIEEE!!!!" he roared from inside the flames.  
"Silk Shot!" X charged up the weapon.  
All the debris around them started flying and compiled together at the tip of the blue Reploid's buster. Even Geemel's own weapon!  
"Hey, that's mine!!!" Geemel protested.  
"What it back?" X grinned, firing the compiled debris at the Maverick, smashing him into a wall.  
"Kyee! This can't be!!" Geemel groaned.  
"Alright, time to talk." X demanded. "Who is the one that's hacking the Maverick Hunter's Database?"  
"Kee kee! I'll never tell!" Geemel growled.  
"You better..." he warned, charging his buster.  
TWACK! A large sword whacked X in the head and knocked him over.  
"Geemel, I've been sent to get you." Zain appeared next to the damaged Maverick.  
"No!" X roared, firing his Charge Shot.  
Geemel chuckled. "Don't think you've defeated me just because you've won this round! Kekeke! We'll get you next time, X!"  
The two Maverick disappeared before the shot hit them.  
"Dammit..." X cursed.  
"X, you ok?" Middy's voice came through the transmission.  
"I'm fine." he replied. "Just another attack from those Mavericks."  
"You better hurry, X." Dr. Cain said.  
X nodded, pressing on. He worked his way through, remembering the path he and Zero took the first time they went through Sigma's Fortress. The data version of it was very much the same.  
"Hmm... If I remember right, I go...." X suddenly lost his footing, as a Maverick knocked him down.  
"Gah!" X growled, firing his buster rapidly at the flying bats. One shot bounced off a wall... But it left a strange dent in it.  
"What the?" the blue Reploid blinked in confusion. He stepped closer to see the wall was.... Full of holes that data cubes like an unfinished program? "Ok.... An unfinished area of data?" he wondered.  
"I'm not getting any reading on that here." Alia spoke up.  
"Me neither, Middy what is that?" Iris asked.  
"I don't know... Be careful X!" Middy warned.  
X nodded, he placed his hand carefully on the wall.... It went right through! "HUH?!?" he stepped forward as he walked right through the wall, and into a tiny room. "Where am I?"  
"WOW! I didn't think you could make it here! You're so cool! You're so cool! I'm not worthy!" a mechanical voice cheered. "Step inside for a prize!"  
X sweatdropped. "THE HELL....?" he stepped forward to see one of Dr. Light's Capsules! "Ooookkkkaaayyy.... How is there one of these in the Mother Computer?"  
"What are you talking about, X?" Zero asked.  
"One of Dr. Light's Capsules is right in front of me." X mumbled. "You guys don't see it on your end?"  
"Nope." Douglas shook his head.  
"Must be a program that can only be unlocked by you being there." Middy shrugged.  
"Well.... A lot of what was left of Dr. Light's data was stored in the Mother Computer." Dr. Cain muttered. "Perhaps there was a secret program for that capsule data?"  
"Would explain it, and that it couldn't be unlocked unless X stepped in there." Middy pointed out.  
X gulped, the message from before did creep him out, though. That didn't sound at all like Dr. Light.... Unless he found Roll's secret stash for the Saki when he recorded it.  
The capsule like all the others, showed a hologram of the Reploid's creator. "Enter this capsule, X. I'll give you the legendary Shotokan moves..."  
"The wha...?" X blinked in confusion.  
"The 'Hadou-ken' and 'Shouryu-ken' will be your most powerful abilities!" Dr. Light proclaimed. "Remember that you can only perform these moves when you are on the ground, and must charge them before use. Also, they can only be used once."  
"Awwww man...." X pouted. "C'mon doc, if you were going to give me something strong, why can't I keep it?"  
Dr. Light seemed to have expected that question, as the hologram gave an answer. "I'm sorry but you can't be equipped with these powers for very long or they'll overload your system. Life is sometimes cruel, isn't it X..."  
X sighed. "....... Too true, Dr. Light...." he stepped into the capsule.  
Beams of bright blue light surrounded him. A hidden program flashed through his helmet, showing it was locked until he chose to use it.  
"Hmm... So once and they're done huh?" X murmured. "Guess I better save them for the last moment....."

X continued his way through the fortress until he found the core. "This looks like it.... But where's the main virus?"  
"Fu fu fu.... You made it." a voice loomed.  
The blue Reploid narrowed his eyes. "I know your voice...."  
The voice chuckled. "Fu fu fu.... I am impressed. You have done very well."  
X blinked... How could this data version be talking this clear to him? "Show yourself, Sigma!"  
And in a flash, there he was. Looking just like he did that day he met the leader of the Mavericks. Sigma stood with his green armor and red cloak covering his body. "You're here again... Just like the first time, brings back memories, does it not X? We had fun last time... But playtime is over!"  
X's eyes widened. "You're not a program data!!! It really is you!"  
Sigma chuckled. "It took you this long to figure it out, X? I'm not just a Reploid, my mind is carried in the body of a virus. I have no psychical form, so once my bodies are destroyed, I can transfer through the data world."  
X growled. "So, you've been behind all of this?! I'll crush you Sigma!!!!"  
"Ha ha ha.... No matter what you do, it'll be in vain! Ha ha ha..." Sigma laughed loudly.  
"Get ready to be destroyed!" X roared.  
Sigma just smirked. "Fu fu... Your efforts are worthy... But they will end here! Ha ha ha!"  
"So it was Sigma again who was behind everything...." Dr. Cain muttered. "X, you've got to stop him!"  
X nodded, firing a Charge Shot right away, which Sigma drew his saber and blocked.  
"You'll have to do better than that." Sigma taunted.  
X hissed. "Electric Spark!" he charged up the weapon, firing two vertical streams of energy which traveled left and right across room.  
"Un-oh." Sigma gulped, unable to run as they hit him hard!  
"How about that?" X smirked, firing a quick Charge Shot that caught him off guard.  
"Gaaah...." Sigma growled. "Dammit! I'll get you!" he dashed up the walls and came hurling down at X, slashing several times with his sword.  
X couldn't block the first few, but fired a Sonic Slicer to block the other slashes.  
Sigma struggled against the crescent shaped energy blade, then sidestepped to get away from it, dashing forward with a stab.  
"Bubble Splash!" X fired a few bubbles that burst on the ground, making it very wet.  
"YIKES!!!!" Sigma cried as the wet floor made him during the charge, carrying him all the way into a wall!  
"Shotgun Ice!" X fired a series of the shards of ice, freezing the water on the floor which froze the Virus Reploid's feet in place.  
"Damn." Sigma cursed, swashing his blade to try to break the ice.  
"Oh, you want out?" X teased with a grin. "Storm Tornado!!!" he charged up the weapon so that he fired a vertical tornado that lifted Sigma off the ground and into the air.  
SNAP! His legs broke when he was lifted due to his feet being frozen to the ground.  
"Magnet Mine! Homing Torpedo!" X fired one mine that attached to Sigma as he was falling back to the ground, followed by multiple torpedoes that spiraled outward since X charged that weapon before firing.  
KA-BOOM! BLAST! Sigma's body took heavy damage and was sparking.  
"This ends here, Sigma." X proclaimed.  
Sigma just grinned. "Hee hee hee. I guess I will retreat for now... However... X.... Don't think that this is end! Ha ha ha...."  
"Oh no you don't!" X cried, firing his buster.  
"Ha ha.... Nice try! But you're just a tiny bug to me! Ha ha ha ha...." Sigma suddenly disappeared.  
X lowered his buster and frowned. "He got away...."  
"Yeah, but because he's gone now we can trace where his hiding place is!" Middy cried. "Restoring Mother Computer back to normal!"  
"Great, I'll wait here until you finish." X said.  
It took only a few moments for Middy to finish.  
"X, finally we've found Sigma's hiding place!" Dr. Cain cried. "You can warp from the core of the Mother Computer."  
"All right! Dr. Cain, I'm going to go there now!" Zero called out, heading for the exit of the room. "X, I'll meet you there!"  
"Sure thing Roll!" X cried.  
Zero grumbled as she left the room. "Zero..." she hissed.  
"Okay, I'll be able to transport X there in a moment." Middy said, typing on the computer.  
"It would seem that someone worked with Sigma and hacked the computer from there." Dr. Cain said, holding his chin. "But who could have been able to do that?"  
Middy shivered for a moment. "..... You know what, X? I have something to tell you.........."  
"What is it, Middy?" X asked, confused.  
Middy shook his head. "..... No..... Never mind, good luck!"

"Oh no! We've been spotted!" Techno cried from his secret lab. "Is there nobody who can stop him?"  
Zain & Geemel looked at each other.  
"Well...." Zain gulped.  
"Darn! With this type of situation... I just run away...!" Geemel cried, he and Zain darted out of the room faster than the blink of an eye.  
"Zain! Geemel!" Techno cried. "Darn! They left me behind!"


	18. Episode 18: Twin Hackers?!? The Truth About Middy!

X was transported in a bright blue light at the entrance of Techno's lab. It only took a matter of minutes before Zero drove up and leapt from her Ride Chaser, landing by his side.  
"X, we're going to destroy Sigma's hiding place completely." she stated. "To scatter their power, we'll split up for now!"  
Her brother nodded. "Ok, let's go!"  
"Where the hell is the exit of this damn place?!?" Geemel hissed as he and Zain were heading in their direction.  
"I don't know, I normally teleport wherever I go..." Zain shrugged. "But we couldn't teleport with Techno freaking out like the idiot he is...."  
"Zain! Geemel!!!" X cried. "Looks like we're in the right place."  
"OH CRAP!" Geemel spun around and his jaw dropped.  
Zain just drew his sword. "I've been waiting for you, X!"  
"Waiting?" Geemel snapped at his partner. "We've been trying to run out of here!"  
Zain sweatdropped. "They didn't need to know that..." he grumbled, turning to X. "You have no chance to win!"  
Geemel shrugged, turning to his opponents. "Kekeke! Disgusting X! How could you beat me last time! I'll pay you back for that!"  
"Wait, they were running away one moment, and now they want to fight?" Zero blinked, a small bead of sweatdrop rolling down the back of her head.  
X shook his head. "Why don't you guys just go back to running? We've got bigger things to deal with then you, and I'd rather not fight if I don't have to."  
"X, they're Mavericks." Zero folded her arms. "The only thing on their CPUs is fighting...."  
"SHUT UP!" both Maverick hissed.  
"That does it! I get the cocky girly boy here!" Zain proclaimed, pointing at Zero.  
An anger vain popped on the red Reploid. "GIRLY BOY?!?!?!?" she growled.  
X took a few steps back. "Unnn.... Geemel, if you know any better you'd take my advice and run...... Or else there won't be enough of Zain's body left to tell if he was a Reploid or a CD Player....."  
"Threatening us won't do any good X!" Geemel shouted. "You can't scare us!"  
"Not threatening, just warning you....." X mumbled.  
"Let's get them X and send them to hell!!!!" Zero growled  
X sweatdropped. "I knew this was going to happen as soon as Zain opened his big mouth...." he muttered.  
Zain chuckled and threw his large sword like a boomerang at Zero, who quickly dodged and attacked with an upward slash.  
"Gah!" Zain growled, trying to punch the red Reploid.  
"Too slow!" she grinned, leaping into the air and firing her Z-Buster into his back.  
Zain crashed to the ground but grinned. "You think?" his sword suddenly came flying back and smacked her in the head.  
"Grrrr, you're gonna pay for that!" Zero hissed, she rushed at him with her saber.  
Zain flipped into the air and caught his sword, and with a single motion, slashed at her long blonde hair as it was flying up from her running, cutting a bit off the tip.  
A fiery aura of anger surrounded Zero. "NOBODY GIVES ME A BAD HAIRCUT AND LIVES!!!!!" she growled, slashing with a fury.  
X sweatdropped. "Awwww man, that was the worst thing he could have done...."  
"Shut up and fight, X!" Geemel was rushing at him.  
X backflipped and fired a few shots off his buster. "Really, I'd rather avoid this but it seems I have no choice...." he grimaced.  
"Oh mister big time Maverick Hunter doesn't want to fight?" Geemel taunted.  
"I just want to end this." X said in a cold tone.  
"Kee kee! Good, then let me end it by destroying you!" Geemel grinned, hurling his star-shaped weapon at the blue Reploid.  
"Spin Wheel!" X fired a spiked wheel that cut Geemel's weapon in half!  
"Kyee!!! How frustrating!" Geemel hissed.  
"I'll give you one chance, run away." X warned.  
"Never!" the Maverick protested, rushing at X to try to attack by any means.  
X sighed, there was no way around this. "Charge Shot!" he fired the blast that blasted Geemel clear across the room. The Maverick was sparking badly from the attack.  
"GAAHHH!!!!" Zain came crashing down ontop of him, his arms and legs were destroyed by Zero's Z-Saber already. "I can't believe this...."  
"Roll, don't you think you've done enough?" X sighed weakly.  
Zero glared at him and pointed her sword towards her brother. "He asked for it, and it's ZERO!"  
"I think dying has had some effect on your mood." X crossed his arms. "You seem a bit.... Snippy?"  
"B*tchy is more like it." Zain remarked.  
"SHUT UP!" Zero shot a Z-Buster shot at the Maverick to shut his mouth.  
"Alright Roll!" X shouted. "Forget about them, we've got more important things to worry about!"  
Zero pursed her lips together. "You're right, let's press on."  
"Hee hee, you're not going to finish them off?" a cold voice chuckled, as a shot came by and destroyed both Mavericks!  
"What the hell?!?" X spun around.  
"Wha-what was that?!?" Zero cried.  
The Maverick Hunters looked around, but nothing was within sight.  
"X, you go ahead." Zero said. "I'll check around here to see if I can find out who that was!"  
X nodded. "Right, I've got to stop that hacker!" he darted further into the lab.  
"You really think he can handle that on his own?" the voice came back right after X left.  
"Show yourself!" Zero hissed.  
There was a shadow figure not too far from her, as it slowly stepped into the light, her eyes widened.  
"It's you!!!"

X was slowly making his way to Techno, which was shown the screen of the computer that the hacker was working on.  
Techno was frantically typing on the machine. "Darn it! I didn't notice it soon, but he's already come so close! He'll be here at any..."  
"Correction, he is here." X stood in the doorway. "You must be the hacker!"  
"OH CRAP!" Techno's jaw dropped. "I need to make a move quickly....." he continued to type.  
X snarled, holding up his buster to charge a shot. "No! I won't allow you! I'll crush the machine!"  
"NO! Don't!!!" Techno cried.  
But before X could even fire, another shot, just like the one that destroyed Geemel & Zain whirled into the air and destroyed the machine.  
"Waaaaaaaaa!" Techno fell to the ground, holding his head in pain.  
"Again?!?" X cried. "Who's there?"  
No answer. There was nothing there now and no signs of the Maverick that fired the shot.  
"Dammit." X cursed. "Roll, do you read me?" he held his hand by his helmet to try to signal his sister by the radio.  
But nothing answered him. "..... Fine, Zero. Do you read me? There was another shot like that one....."  
Again, no answer. He shot a glare at Techno. "Did you jam the radio signal?!?"  
Techno suddenly looked weak and fell over.  
"Huh? Hey what's happening to you?" X blinked in confusion.  
"Brother!" a voice cried out.  
Techno barely opened his eyes. "Oh.... That voice sounds familiar....."  
X spun around to the voice's owner. "Middy?!?!?"  
Middy was standing there, his hands over his face in shock. "My brother, Techno!" he darted to the purple Reploid's side.  
"What.... Am I doing here....?" Techno asked weakly.  
Middy smiled for a moment. "Techno! Oh, you're waking up....."  
X stood there in shock. ".... So that's what you wanted to tell me before we left...." he muttered.  
"Techno, why? Why did you....?" Middy asked.  
Techno looked around the room in a daze. "I've been controlled by Sigma.... Middy.... It's all over with me.... In order to hack the Mother Computer, I connected my own CPU directly with the computer.... Sigma...... He's inside the computer trying to force his way back into the core and corrupt the Mother Computer....... You've got to stop him, it's too late for me..."  
Middy's eyes widened in fear. "Nooo! Don't say that! Techno! Please hold on!"  
"Sigma is good at toying and controlling people's hearts." Techno said weakly. "He took advantage of my heart and made me work for him."  
Middy shook his head. "You are a genius! You don't have a weak heart!"  
Techno smirked. "Huh, you think so?" he then frowned. "Middy.... But... You don't understand....." his eyes shut, as his systems shut down.  
Middy shook his brother. "Nooo! Please... Techno! Don't leave me! Techno!" he shouted.  
For a moment, X flashed his own mind back to when Zero died, this scene reminded him much of this. He shook his head to snap back to his senses. "Middy, what happened?"  
At that moment, Middy himself seemed to grow weak, laying down on the ground and slowly closing his eyes. "Techno is my twin brother... We share the same CPU. So if he dies, I also die...."  
X's eyes widened in shock. ".... Never give into him!"  
"Be sure to defeat Sigma, use the transmission capsule to get back into the Mother Computer..........." Middy barely spoke, pointing to a capsule in the room.  
X shook his head, connecting himself to the capsule. "Middy! Hold on! I'll be back soon. Stay here!"


	19. Episode 19: Final Data Battle!

X was transported back into the core of the Mother Computer, and right there stood Sigma.  
"I thought you would come here. I enjoyed your performances so much... But the entertainment is over." Sigma chuckled.  
X growled. "You used Techno! Sigma..... How did you...?"  
Sigma sighed. "Didn't you think it was strange that you could defeat me with such easy attacks? You're no wiser than before, X! Now you will pay for your ignorance!"  
The Maverick Hunter balled his hands into fists. "It'll be the final battle! I'll finish you at any cost!"  
"Ha ha ha! You must fail! Get ready to be destroyed!" Sigma laughed.  
"You get ready!" X growled, firing his buster.  
Claws appeared in Sigma's fist and slashed the blast. "X, X, X.... Were you not listening? I said those weak attacks have no effect on me." he grinned.  
X snarled, he was going to have to think of another attack.... Then he remembered, Dr. Light's special moves!  
Sigma was coming at him again, in full force to rip him to shreds as he clashed his claws against him.  
X had no time, he had to try at least one. "Shouryu-ken!!!" he screamed, and suddenly found himself thrusting his fist upward into a spin as it smashed against Sigma hard. X was elevated so high it was as if his boots were turned into rockets!  
"How the hell?!?" Sigma barked, tossing his saber into the air to attack the blue Reploid.  
"Strike Chain!" X fired the chain onto a nearby platform, using it to swing himself to safety.  
"I'll destroy you X!!!" Sigma snarled, his body was sparking though.  
"Dr. Light said I can only use these moves once...." X reminded himself. "Well, here goes nothing! **Hadou-ken!** " he placed his hands together.  
A bright blue light gathered around his hands, forming into a powerful ball of energy. He hurled the blue fireball at Sigma.  
The data around Sigma's form was breaking from the previously attack, and once this one hit he whaled in pain. "Why.... Why do you win all the time.... Where does your power come from? GuaaaAAA!" his data broke up into pieces.  
"Did it..." X collapsed to his knees. "That should take care of the virus in the Mother Computer..." he panted.  
Sigma's voice though echoed in the room. "Bwah ha ha ha. Your efforts are futile.... I will never be defeated!! As long as Mavericks exist.... As long as evil exists in the minds of humans... I'll come back again and again! X.... I'll pursue you to the end of the world! Bwah ha ha ha! Farewell! FOR NOW!!! Bwah ha ha!"  
And with that, X transported his data back to his Reploid body.

"Gaaahhh!!!!" the mysterious Maverick that had destroyed Geemal & Zain was knocked over by a shot from Zero's buster. It was a tall, purple Maverick with a cannon on his shoulder.  
"You're supposed to be dead, Vile!" Zero hissed. "I know the version before was the data from the Mother Computer, but now.... How the hell....?"  
"The same could be said of you, Zero." Vile replied, his red 'eye' glowing. "Both our parts were recovered by Sigma. He just needed my data from the Mother Computer to revive me."  
"You must had lost the data of your control chip...." Zero muttered. "So you had to download it from there...."  
Vile nodded. "Very good, my old partner."  
The red Reploid sneered. "We were only temporary partners, Vile. Your memory data must be damaged."  
"Oh no, it's very much intact...." Vile snickered. "... Roll."  
Zero's eyes flashed red as she fired a few shots from her buster at the purple Maverick in a fury. " **DON'T CALL ME THAT! YOU OF ALL PEOPLE NEVER MAY CALL ME BY MY TRUE NAME!!!!** "  
Vile backflipped and dodged a few shots, but couldn't avoid them all. "Never had this much of a fit when Sigma called you that..." he grumbled.  
"I was an Operator at the time and he was commanding officer." Zero hissed. "And besides, when Sigma met me I hadn't changed my name yet."  
The Maverick shrugged. "Still doesn't explain why you get so ticked off about that, now where as when idiots confuse you for a guy...."  
"SHUT UP!" Zero fired another fired at smacked him in the face.  
"I'm just stating a fact!" he snarled. "I mean with the girly looking hair you'd think morons could figure out, because what guy in his right mind would have that and those boob-like things on your chest?" he pointed to the green orbs that stuck out on her chest plate.  
" ** _I SAID SHUT THE $@#$@ UP!_** " Zero hollered, drawing her Z-Saber and dashing forward as she sliced his cannon with a flick of her arm.  
"You have a worse temper than I remember." Vile crossed his arms. "Dying for the fifth or sixth time make you snippy?"  
"NO I JUST GET TICKED OFF AT YOUR $#@$ING FACE!" Zero hollered, swinging her saber in attempts of cutting the Maverick's head off.  
Vile couldn't help but keep laughing as he dodged. "Oh what's wrong Zero? Don't like me anymore?"  
" **I NEVER LIKED YOU, YOU LITTLE $#!@$!!!!!** " Zero growled, her aura of rage increasing.  
The Maverick kept snickering. "Oh but you don't remember the rumors that went around that you were dating me? Even though you threaten to kill Double when he teased about it...."  
"THOSE RUMORS WEREN'T TRUE AND YOU KNEW IT!" Zero growled. "Yet you tried to boost your $@#$@ing ego by pretending it was true!"  
Vile waved his hand in a gesture. "Yeah, but it was kinda fun. I mean after all because of that I could claim I taught you all your skills."  
"YOU WERE AGAINST SIGMA MAKING ME A HUNTER, AND TRIED EVERYTHING TO GET ME THROWN OUT!!!!" Zero growled.  
"Because an Operator did NOT belong in the field." Vile shrugged. "You were not designed for combat and I knew you'd be a risk... _EPICALLY_ after that time you malfunctioned and attack Sigma!"  
"That was an accident and you know it!" Zero barked. "I got some kind of virus off that weird computer in that lab we were investigating!"  
"Yes, but Sigma still speaks of that day, and believes now that you are destined to be a Maverick." Vile pointed out.  
" **I'LL DIE BEFORE I JOIN THE LIKES OF YOU!** " the red Reploid snarled.  
"Again?" Vile joked. "Unnn, too late for that, not counting the times we thought you died...."  
"JUST SHUT UP AND FIGHT!" Zero hissed.  
"Why? This is more entertaining!" the Maverick chuckled.  
Zero growled again, thrusting forward with her saber.  
Vile backflipped again and dodged. "Hey, I couldn't help most girls in the job got killed. Storm Eagle never forgave you for what happened to his girlfriend..."  
"That wasn't my fault!" she snapped. "Neither was it his! Teal took matters into her own hands and died trying to save us all!"  
"We were all dying left and right for a worthless cause." Vile shrugged. "All the others understood but you."  
"Because you're all clouded by Sigma." Zero hissed. "He's been using each and every one of you. Well maybe not you as much, you always put humans at risk in your missions. You never cared as long as you got your job done and always wanted to be the most powerful."  
Vile snickered. "And one day I will surpass Sigma, just wait and see..."  
Then the building rumbled a bit.  
"What the?" Zero snapped to.  
"Drat, looks like it's time for my exit!" Vile suddenly teleported out.  
"Vile wait!!!" Zero hollered. "Dammit!"  
"Zero, you've got to get out of there!" Iris's voice finally broke through the communication jamming.  
"Iris? What happened?" Zero asked, confused.  
"Something was jamming us before, but I think Middy and X fixed it." Alia said.  
"Middy?" Zero looked confused. "He's here?"  
"I'm picking up his signal near X, so he should be fine." Iris said.  
"Zero, just get back here." Dr. Cain ordered. "I'm sure X will follow."  
Zero frowned. "But-"  
"Don't worry about him." Dr. Cain said. "Just get back here quick! The Mother Computer's been restored so he must be on his way!"  
Zero sighed. "Very well, transport me."  
And in a flash of red light, she was transferred out.

"I am never traveling out of my body again...." X groaned and held his head, stepping out of the capsule after he returned from the data world.  
The rumbling of the building snapped X to his senses. "Un-oh. This place is gonna come down!" he darted over to the bodies of Middy and Techno.  
Techno was lifeless, no change. Middy looked like he was about to power down for the last time soon.  
"Middy, hold on! We have to evacuate now!" X cried.  
Middy weakly opened his eyes. "Un... X... It... Seems I'm done for... Thanks to you, Techno recovered his senses... Thank you, X..." he closed his eyes right after, and his system shut down.  
"MIDDY NOOO!!!!!" X cried, but the building was beginning to come down, he had no choice but to teleport out.

X arrived back at Maverick Hunter HQ, to see everyone standing around him.  
Zero looked at him with a smile. "Thank goodness you're safe... X, our mission is complete...." she suddenly noticed the painful look on his face. "What's up, X? Where is Middy?"  
X lowered his head. "Roll.... I'm sorry.... I couldn't save Middy's life."  
"Oh no, Techno didn't put his CPU into it, did he?!?" Dr. Cain cried. "If that happened, there's no way to revive him, they share the same CPU."  
X nodded weakly. "You guys knew Techno?"  
"He was a researcher with my old partner." Alia said. "But Middy left him to join us, I had no idea Techno would have joined Sigma."  
"He didn't. Sigma control him." X corrected her.  
Zero sighed. "... X. It's not your fault. Middy sacrificed himself to help all of us. He helped us to defeat Sigma... Don't waste his sacrifices!"  
X didn't speak at first. He then slowly lifted his head to look at his sister. "............... It's not true peace when the strong rule the world... And the weak is sacrificed.... It is very wrong, for sure! I will fight to prevent that!"  
Zero smirked. "And I'll be fighting with you bro, we all will......"

Thanks to X and Zero's work, Sigma's ambition to take over the computer world was stopped. But the last words of Sigma make X feel unrest. _"But, I won't let evil win. No matter how strong or how many enemies I must defeat, I will always fight to protect the peace..."_ X makes this promise in his mind. But evil is very tough to completely stop. When evil emerges again... They'll be there to fight... For now, we can only hope that the world will give X and Zero some peace...

 


	20. Episode 20: The Spider Time Travel!

"Stop right there Vile!!!" X hollered as he reached the highway.  
Many times X would find himself here, he thought. It had only been two weeks since the computer incident and Sigma had used the data from the Mother Computer to revive his Mavericks. Even though now they were more like hollow shells, just Reploids with the powers of the previous Mavericks, no mind of their own as they used to have. They barely talked and only followed Sigma or Vile's orders, as those two Mavericks still had their CPUs with their own minds.  
Vile hissed, turning to the black penguin next to him. "Chill Penguin, cover me!"  
"Yes sir!" the Maverick cried, jumping onto his belly to slide like a rocket at the Maverick Hunter.  
"Not going to work, Speed Burner!!!" X charged up the weapon and his body exploded into flames as he dashed into the Maverick, destroying it easily with the flames. "I swear, these copies are only a 1/10 of the real Maverick's power."  
"That's because they're put together with scrap metal." a red Reploid answered as she dropped down and slashed through the copy of Sting Chameleon who was about to attack X. "These things are an insult to the real Reploids they're designed after."  
"Thanks Roll." X smirked.  
She frowned. "Zero, remember? Can you at least TRY to call me that?"  
"I'll think about it." X chuckled, dashing off after Vile.  
"You keep saying that...." Zero grumbled, following.  
X stopped in his tracks, seeing Vile enter a broken building. "Why do you think he broke into the history archives anyway?"  
"Like I have any idea what goes through his mind?" Zero rolled her eyes. "Back when he was a Maverick Hunter no one could figure that out!"  
"I just find it odd, what in the world could be useful in there for Sigma?" X thought out loud.  
"As him when we catch him." Zero huffed and stormed inside.  
Vile's Cannon fired right into her face as she entered, blowing her backwards into X.  
"OH THAT DOES IT!!!" she growled, rising to her feet once more and dashing in with her saber. "X, stay back because I'm going to rip him to shreds!"  
X blinked. "Are you ever going to tell me what the hell he did back at Techno's Lab that pissed you off so bad?"  
"NO!" Zero roared, dashing in faster.  
The blue Reploid shrugged. "Must have been pretty bad...." he walked in slowly.  
 ** _CLASH! CLANG! BLAST!_** By the loud noises it was easy to tell that Zero and Vile took their fight further into the building. X sighed, figuring with Zero's rage it would be best to wait....  
 _FLING!_ A card suddenly struck the ground in front of him, stuck in place.  
"What the?" X blinked in confusion.  
"You must be one hell of a Reploid to have such a huge bounty on you...." a voice loomed as a figure moved in the darkness.  
"Who the hell are you!?" X held his buster up, ready to strike.  
The figure leapt out into the light. It was a tall, male Reploid with a black hat on. He had blue hair and his body was outfitted with a black suit. "If I break you to pieces and send you off to Sigma, it would fetch a pretty penny! You see, I'm neither Maverick, nor with the Maverick Hunters."  
X's eyes widened. "A bounty hunter!"  
The Reploid smirked. "Well done, chump! That's quite a grasp of the obvious you've got there." he said sarcastically. "I'm Spider... It's a pleasure. Now let's rumble!"   
"How do I always end up in these situations?" X grumbled to himself as he dodged a few of the flying cards Spider hurled at him.  
"Tri Card!" Spider held a handful of cards that he showed to X, before flinging them into the air.  
The card flew down like rockets and tracked X wherever he dodged!  
"GAH!" the Maverick Hunter cried as he was hit.  
"Take this!" Spider tossed another card, this one exploded!  
"Armor on!" X choked out while still being attacked. His body glowed a bright blue and his armor appeared. "Charge Shot!" he fired at Spider.  
Spider backflipped and avoided the shot, still with his quick hand hurling cards at the blue Reploid.  
"Dammit!" X growled, he couldn't get a clear shot, so he fired randomly.  
Spider suddenly made a huge card appear, and he used it like a shield. "Nice try!" he threw it at X with sliced a deep cut on his buster, causing it to spark.  
"Oh no!" X cried.  
"Time to finish this!" Spider declared, ready to hurl another strike of cards.  
Just as they were thrown into the air, the cards split in half!  
"Huh?" Spider blinked.  
"Roll!" X cried.  
Zero landed between them. "You ok, bro?"  
X nodded. "Sure am now!"  
"Vile got away.... So who's..." Zero turned to see her brother's attacker. ".......... SPIDER?!?" her jaw dropped.  
"YOU KNOW THIS BASTARD?!?" X growled.  
"Zero?" Spider blinked several times. "Awww, man... Did this bounty HAVE to be working for you?"  
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING WORKING FOR SIGMA?!?!!?" Zero hollered.  
Spider winced. "Hey, this kid here had a HUGE bounty on his head! I was just trying to collect!"  
"You never learn..." Zero rolled her eyes. "I thought you were going to reform!"  
"Heh, I thought about it." Spider chuckled. "Though Mary offered to slice me in half if I didn't think it back over when she came those couple of months ago to help me and Marino out."  
X's eyes widened at the mention of the female Reploid that helped him gather the parts for Zero. Suddenly he remembered her mention a Spider and someone named Marino...  
"You were her first mate, she wanted you to join us." Zero growled.  
"You know me, I'm a loner." Spider shrugged. "So where is Mary anyway?"  
Zero frowned and looked away at that question. ".... You haven't heard? Mary's dead."  
Spider's eyes widened and his knees buckled. ".... M-Mary's.... D-dead?!?"  
Zero nodded quietly. "The X-Hunters were the cause of her death. Just not long after she came back to us..."  
"I never you damn hunters would be the death of her!!!!" Spider hissed. "No, she decided to go against being a pirate and a bounty hunter, and go off and play Maverick Hunter with you!"  
"She knew it was the right thing to do!!!" Zero protested.  
"And got herself killed over it." Spider growled. "Marino wouldn't come, but you know why she can't come back..."  
"Yes, I very well know that." Zero snapped. "Doesn't mean you couldn't have come."  
"And die like Mary? No thanks Zero." Spider shook his head. "I still owe you, so I'll forget about your little friend over there."  
"That 'friend' is my brother." Zero snapped.  
The black Reploid blinked. "Your brother?"  
"Spider, it's a long story." Zero groaned. "Ask Marino to tell it to you sometime..."  
"Marino? Actually I haven't seen her since Mary left." Spider said. "She and I went our separate ways with our bounties."  
"I see...." Zero muttered. "So where are you going to go from here?"  
Spider held his chin. "Don't know.... Maybe look around or go back to Giga City." he turned to X. "You're safe now, dude, because your sis here has saved my butt and my best friend's. So I won't be coming after ya again."  
X grit his teeth during this whole conversation.  
"Later Zero." Spider said as he flipped a card into the air that turned into a puff of smoke.... And he was gone.  
"Who the hell was that freako?" X snarled.  
".... An old friend." Zero said quietly. "He was one of Mary's crew. Though he's not a serious bounty hunter, he just goes for what he can get the most out of."  
X groaned. "Well he came close. I better get to Dr. Cain for repairs. So did you find out what Vile got?"  
Zero shook her head. "Just some kind of file but he got away with it."  
X sighed. ".... I wonder what it could have been......"  
  
Back at Dr. Cain's Lab, X had been repaired after a bit as the two Maverick Hunters decided to remain to try to relax.  
 _CRASH!_ Double knocked over a few boxes of Reploid parts. "SORRY!!! I'll pick it up!!!"  
X sweatdropped. ".... Seriously, does he just have a bug or something?"  
"No clue, he's been like that since Dr. Cain created him." Zero shrugged. "Hey doc, what are you doing anyway?" she looked over her shoulder to see the doctor to be grinning at something.  
"I've finally mastered the secret of time travel!" he cried.  
"You wha?!?" X rose from his seat. "This better be smarter than your idea of Plutonium Rods and Coca Cola!!" Zero growled.   
X blinked. "Did you say Coke?"  
Zero nodded. "DON'T ASK. I have no idea where he came up with that crackpot idea!"  
"I still say that would have worked if I could've figured the measurement out right!" Dr. Cain argued.   
"Ya, but you blew your lab up after the first attempt!!" Zero shouted.   
"Well if Double hadn't knocked over the 24 Pack, that wouldn't have happened!!" Dr. Cain pointed out.  
"Hey don't blame this on me!!!" Double whimpered. "I thought you guys got over that!"  
"Are you kidding? It took months to repair everything!" Alia cried.  
X just remained in shock for a moment.  
"Anyway, here it is! The perfect device for Time Travel!" Dr. Cain held up a tiny circle device with blue jewels that came into a circle, and a green jewel in the center.  
"So how'd you build this thing anyway?" X asked.  
"I read historical books and movies on Time Travel." Dr. Cain said with a smirk.  
X and Zero looked at each other.   
"There's no history on Time Travel!" Zero argued.   
"Yes there is! I watch Dr. Brown's theory and I read the Time Machine by H.G. Wells!" Dr. Cain protested.   
"You watched Back to the Future and Time Machine!!!!!" X shouted.   
"Great..... A Time Machine made and inspired by H.G. Wells and Science Fiction Movies!" Zero murmured.  
"Hey, if it works, don't say I didn't tell you so!" Dr. Cain yelled.  
All 4 Reploids looked at each other with sweatdrops on their heads.  
"Maybe we'll test this thing later." Zero groaned.  
"Ungrateful robots..." Dr. Cain mumbled as he was gathered things around him, still working.  
Zero groaned and left the room. Alia sighed and went back to her Operator duties.  
X blinked and noticed a bunch of Coke Bottles around some Plutonium Rods. "I thought you gave up the Coke-Pulto idea....."  
Dr. Cain blinked in confusion and looked a the soda. "These? They're going flat, so I'm trying to drink them or use them up." he explained, opening a bottle and taking a sip. "Darn.... This one's flat....." he tossed it for a garbage can, which Double was emptying.  
 _BONK!_ The bottle bounced off Double's head as he fell down, and accidentally kicked the bottle back over to Dr. Cain, which the cap wasn't screwed back on right so it fell off, spilling all over the Plutonium Rods!!  
X's eyes widened. " **Doc, LOOK OUT!!!!!!** " he shoved Dr. Cain out of the way.  
"X!" Alia cried as she caught Dr. Cain.  
 ** _KA-BOOM!_** The rods exploded with a spiral of green and blue light. In a flash, X was gone!  
" _X?_ ....... X!!!!!!!" Dr. Cain cried.  
"What happened doc? You blew up your lab again?" Zero asked as she rushed back in. "Where's X?"  
"X is going through time due to my experiment!!" Dr. Cain cried.  
Zero's eyes widened and she grabbed the doctor with both hands, lifting him into the air to her face. "You tried that stupid experiment again?!? You incinerated X!!!!!"   
"No! X knocked over my flat coke, and it started a chain reaction!" Dr. Cain cried."I finally found out why it blew up 7 years ago! The carbonation reacted with the Plutonium and blew it up! But with the soda flat, it causes the perfect chain reaction!" he cried.  
"........." Double & Alia both had blank looks on their faces.   
"Never mind the mad science, how do we bring X back?!" Zero snarled.  
Dr. Cain sweatdropped. "That's a problem......"


End file.
